Seven Nairobi residents will now have to spend the next 14 days in quarantine after they were arrested in Kirinyaga en route to Garissa in complete defiance of the dusk-to-dawn curfew and the cessation of movement in and out of Nairobi put in place to curb the spread of coronavirus.
The seven were arrested at a roadblock along the Kerugoya-Kutus Road by police officers manning the roadblock on Saturday, April 18, after they attempted to bribe them in order to be let through and complete their journey to Garissa.
According to Kirinyaga County Commissioner Jim Njoka, six of the culprits are of Somali Origin with one being a Kamba and their mission for the night travel to Garissa is yet to be established.
The seven were transferred from Karoti Girls High School in Mwea to the Co-operative University in Karen for quarantine due to the unavailability of a suitable quarantine facility at the school.
Questions are now being raised on how the seven managed to pass-through roadblocks from Nairobi to Kirinyaga without detection, as they are several roadblocks with police manning them.
The arrest came a day after Health Cabinet Secretary, Mutahi Kagwe made chilling revelations of how some Kenyans left Nairobi for Homa Bay with an empty coffin in the pretext of attending a burial only for their cover to be blown and the driver of their car testing positive for Covid-19.
The seven will face charges in accordance with law after the lapse of their 14-day mandatory quarantine.
Most people have resorted to using different means of beating the stay order in Nairobi, some forced to used thickets to enter and leave the city, while others have been caught inside containers used by cargo trucks in the transportation of goods.
Others have resorted to using ambulances for transportation services in order to manoeuvre past hawk-eyed officers who have erected roadblocks all over major highways These acts forced the police to be extra vigilant as ambulances now face more scrutiny before being allowed to pass.
Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe has several on occasions urged Kenyans to stay home in order to avert the spread of the disease to the rural areas, where the risk of disease spread is so high due to poor hospital infrastructure.
Cases of individuals reported to have migrated with the virus form different locations have so far been reported in Homabay, Siaya and Wajir.
