Kilifi County Declared Covid-19-Free as All Patients Recover

Kilifi Governor Amason Kingi has declared the county Covid-19-free after all patients were discharged having recovered from the disease.

On Friday, May 1st, Governor Kingi said the last six patients to test positive for the bug in the county were discharged from Jibana Health Centre on Thursday.

“At the moment, Kilifi does not have any active Covid-19 case under care in any of our health facilities. This is very encouraging and shows that we are taking the right steps in the fight against this pandemic,” he said through Twitter.

He warned residents not to celebrate yet as they are still at risk of being infected if they fail to follow preventive measures spelled out by the Health Ministry. The county had nine Covid-19 cases, according to the Health Ministry.

“However, this does not mean in any way that our County is out of the woods yet. We must continue observing the laid down protocols from both the National and County Government,” he added.

Kilifi was marked as one of the Covid-19 high-risk areas in the country after more than 100 people were placed under quarantine for interacting with a Covid-19 patient.

They came into contact with the county’s Deputy Governor Gideon Saburi who tested positive for Covid-19 on March 22nd after arriving in the country from Germany.

His contacts included Governor Kingi, county government officials, police officers, officials of an NGO, and villagers.

Saburi, who has since recovered from the virus, was arraigned and charged in court for failing to self-quarantine after returning from abroad.

He was charged that on diverse dates between March 6th and March 22nd, 2020, while suffering from an infectious disease (Covid-19), he knowingly and unlawfully exposed himself in public, without taking any precautions.

He pleaded not guilty to the charge and was released on a cash bail of Sh200,000.