Kirinyaga County Government is focusing
its Covid-19 prevention campaigns on schools as they reopen amid the pandemic
to ensure that there is no rise in spread of the virus.
The County’s Department of Health has held meetings with education officials regarding the reopening of schools amid the pandemic.
The County Executive Committee Member
(CECM) for health, Gladys Kimingi, has said that in order to contain the virus
spread, continuous sensitization in schools as well as monitoring to ensure
that the laid down guidelines are followed will be carried out. This will
complement the campaigns that were carried out in schools during the last
term’s partial reopening.
She said that 200
teachers have been reached while students from about 60 schools have been
sensitized in the past one month when the county’s department of health
embarked on an accelerated Covid-19 prevention campaigns around the county.
She added that the county government has
linked all the schools with health workers who will be in contact with the
schools from time to time offering the required guidance as well as ensuring
that they followed the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health which
include wearing of masks and washing of hands among others.
Apart from sensitizing teachers and
students, roles of other staff in the schools such as watchmen, cooks, grounds men
have been well stipulated so that they all play their part in prevention of the
Covid-19 in the schools.
She said that the health department has
also come up with a reporting template for Covid-19 suspected cases in schools
which is supposed to be filled by school heads and submitted to the Sub county
Covid-19 Multiagency Team through the Sub county Public Health Officer. The template captures details of the student,
the symptoms exhibited and the facility they were referred to.
Kimingi advised that any student
suspected to have Covid-19 should be taken to the nearest health facility where
they will be reviewed and referred accordingly should they meet the case
definition for the disease.
Department of
Education held a sensitization meeting for all the polytechnic principals, the
Early Childhood Development (ECD) Sub County Education Officers as well as Sub County
and Ward Administrators from the county. The officers were taken through the
various guidelines and school reopening directives which they were asked to
implement.
The County Executive Committee Member
for Education, Joseph Kinyua, said that all the county’s 198 ECD centers have
already reopened while the 15 polytechnics in the county will be reopened next
week. He noted that the polytechnic principals are members of the zonal Covid-19
Committees.
Kinyua also noted that the extra
classrooms constructed last year in some ECDE centers and polytechnics will go
a long way in enhancing the capacity of the institutions.
He said that during the last financial
year, the County Government constructed 5 ECDE classrooms and renovated 26
others while this year several new classrooms will also be built under ward
based development program. The county has also constructed an additional 20
classrooms and two dormitories to expand the capacity of the youth polytechnics
in the last three years.
The CEC also said that pupils from ECDE
centers will benefit from free face masks in a consignment of 140,000 masks set
to be distributed by the county government to school children. The masks are
produced by the Department of Gender at the county’s Kaitheri Apparel Factory
in Kerugoya.
He urged school staff, parents and
pupils to play their part in prevention of spread of the virus both while in
school and outside the school.
Kirinyaga County has so far recorded a
total of 476 positive cases of Covid-19 and seven deaths. A total of 21 patients
have so far recovered from the isolation center while others have recovered
under the Home Based Care program. Currently there is no patient admitted at
the isolation center while 4 are recovering under home based care.
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