Since the outbreak of Coronavirus in Kenya on March 13, the virus has been reported in 42 counties.
As of July 9, only 5 counties had managed to keep the virus at bay as Nairobi and Mombasa grappled with the largest number of infections.
The counties that are yet to report cases are West Pokot, Baringo, Samburu, Tharaka Nithi and
Tana River.
Responding to whether Covid-19 testing had been launched in the said counties, Government Spokesperson Cyrus Oguna stated, “We don’t test haphazardly. We only do targeted testing.”
Tana River County which borders Kilifi to the north has been successful in protecting its residents especially since the latter had recorded multiple cases.
Three of the counties-West Pokot, Baringo, Samburu are in Rift Valley and neighbour each other while Tharaka Nithi is in the Mt Kenya region.
Many factors can be attributed to why the counties are Coronavirus free. West Pokot, Baringo, Samburu and Tana River were marred with natural disasters making the regions unattractive for travel.
The limited human traffic going into the regions may have helped prevent the virus from spreading. “It’s important to note that this virus does not move by itself. It is moved by you and I,” Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe stated on May 13, 2020.
Many Kenyans were fearful of travelling to those counties since natural disasters killed more people (237), even up to now, than the Coronavirus.
Though Tharaka Nithi did not experience disasters, the county government has been active in monitoring the virus.
The county launched mass testing in May with 400 testing kits and still yet to report any case. The county set aside 134 isolation beds which is still short of the 300-bed-target set by the Ministry of Health, 13 ICU beds and 2 ventilators.
Tana River set aside only 43 isolation beds without any ICU beds or ventilators. Baringo, on the other hand, prepared 90 isolation beds, 4 in the ICU and 4 ventilators.
Of the five counties, only Samburu and West Pokot appear ready for an outbreak. Samburu prepared 236 beds with 10 being in the ICU, but not ventilators.
West Pokot surpassed the 300-isolation-bed-mark by 37 more. It allocated 6 ICU beds and an equal number of ventilators.
