Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale is scheduled to appear before the National Assembly Departmental Health Committee over the decision to quarantine US citizens exposed to Ebola in Kenya.
The Health CS is expected to appear before the Committee to provide a comprehensive briefing on the arrangement and explain measures the Ministry has put in place to manage the epidemic.
MPs summoned Duale last week after reports emerged that the Donald Trump administration were expected to deploy US public health officers to Kenya to staff a potential quarantine facility in Laikipia amid the Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo.
In the country, Lawmakers have raised concern over Kenya’s preparedness for infectious disease outbreaks in parts of the region.
Speaking before the Parliamentary Health Committee earlier last week, Khwisero Member of Parliament Christopher Aseka questioned whether the Ministry of Health was adequately prepared to handle a possible Ebola outbreak.
Defending the decision to set up the facility in the country, President William Ruto said he gave the US President the green light saying it was part of a long standing US-Kenya partnership. He recalled that the U.S government played a key role in supporting Kenya’s response to public health challenges such as HIV/AIDS, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The partnership with the American government is mutually beneficial to us and to them. When President Donald Trump asked me to support them by having a centre in Laikipia Airbase, I gave the okay, because it is a partnership and agreement with friends who have walked with Kenya for over 40 years on health issues,” he said.
He noted that the quarantine facility being established at Laikipia Air Base with support from the United States is part of a broader national preparedness strategy.
He reiterated that the facility exist solely to protect the health and well-being of Kenyans and others and to ensure that the nation responds swiftly and effectively to public health emergencies.
The Ministry of Health has now sanctioned daily meetings, carried out through sub-committees formed to assess and react to the mutating Ebola virus.
Though there is no confirmed case in the country, the government said its alertness has increased with 10 neighboring countries now on the radar.
So far, the PS noted, 25 counties have been categorized as either ‘very high risk’ or ‘high risk’ in efforts to combat the entry and containment of the deadly zoonotic virus.
The very high-risk counties are – Nairobi, Mombasa, Uasin Gishu, Busia, Kisumu, Bungoma, Trans Nzoia, Siaya, West Pokot, Turkana, Homabay and Migori, most of them being counties at the country’s borders.
High risk counties are – Vihiga, Kakamega, Nakuru, Kericho, Nandi, Kiambu, Machakos, Kilifi, Makueni, Taita Taveta, Isiolo, Elgeyo Marakwet and Garissa.
Fresh data also indicates that in the last 24 hours, 13,548 travelers have been screened in the country’s points of entry, while cumulatively, about 67,000 travelers have been screened.
