Residents of Tana River County will be forced to be extra careful not to contract the deadly coronavirus lest they are ready to cater for themselves while in quarantine.
This was revealed by Governor Dhadho Godhana who while speaking to news reporters, declared that the locals in his county will have to take care of themselves in case they get quarantined.
''As a county government, we can not buy beddings for people in quarantine centres, if anyone is arrested for flouting the laid down government directives, we shall have to take you in with your own beddings and food, and your family will be forced to visit you with more food until you complete your quarantine period.''
The Governor drew comparisons with how the national government treats people who have been quarantined, adding that he will not use any facility within the schools in Tana River County for purposes of helping out any arrested individual.
''The national government puts people into quarantine at their own expense, that is what we are going to follow, we have several schools as quarantine centres, but we can not take students beddings and give out to those who are quarantined.''
Godhana added that the Kenya Medical Training College(KMTC) will only be used by citizens who come into the county from foreign destinations and only they will be provided with food and beddings.
His statements come into sharp contrast with his Mombasa County counterpart Governor Ali Hassan, who on Monday, April 27 through his Health Executive Hazel Koitaba declared that Mombasa County will take care of all expenses for any person quarantined within the county.
“We will isolate and treat them at our own cost, as this will enable us to quarantine more people at a go, we have re-deployed essential health workers from five hospitals to bolster service delivery at these centres”. said Ms Koitoba.
Around 17 secondary schools have been chosen to act as quarantine facilities within Tana River County. The schools include Mau Mau Girls Memorial School, Hola Boys Secondary School, amongst others.
Residents of the county will not only be worried by the effects of floods in the area but also ensure that they look for ways of taking care of themselves. Several leaders have called on the government to cater to quarantine fees of Kenyans.
Controversial and vocal Gatundu North representative Moses Kuria on Monday, April 27th challenged the health ministry to ensure that it uses funds received as donations and grants to caters for Kenyans in isolation even as the government maintains that all any person put into quarantine will have to cover their bills.
