Gov't to Stage Coronavirus Drill in Nairobi

Kenya’s Health Ministry has announced it will conduct a coronavirus drill this weekend.

Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe on Thursday said the exercise will be done at Mbagathi Hospital in Nairobi on Sunday and urged members of the public not to panic when they see unusual activities around the facility. 

CS Kagwe said they will simulate a case of COVID-19 infection to demonstrate how health officers should respond in the event that such a case emerges. "I will say here today that on Sunday at 11 O'clock we shall be carrying out a simulation of a real case at the Mbagathi Hospital. I do not want when the ambulances start whirling away for people to think that we have a real situation," said Kagwe.

Kenya is yet to confirm any case of the deadly disease and all suspected patients have tested negative.

Over 10 African nations including Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa, Senegal, DR Congo, Tunisia, Algeria, Senegal, Cameroon, and Togo have confirmed cases of the virus.

The global coronavirus death toll currently stands at over 4,600 people while more than 126,000 others have been infected in over 100 countries. Most of the fatalities and infections are in mainland China, where the virus originated in December, 2019.