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KPA records seven cases of Covid-19 and two deaths

KPA Mombasa main gate
The Ministry of Health is set to start mass testing of Covid-19 at the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA).
This comes even as dock workers raised concerns over the spread of the virus within the port community, threatening to go on strike.
Early this week, the government announced it is targeting agencies that have reported at-least two positive cases of its staff.
The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) is also among the agencies being targeted for mass testing after some of its staff tested positive while 10 others were sent into quarantine.
The Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) says seven of its employees have contracted the Covid-19 disease while two have died since it was first reported in the country on March 13.
Acting Managing Director Rashid Salim, who confirmed this on Tuesday, noted the pandemic has become a major threat so KPA's officers are taking steps to prevent its further spread.
"As you are aware, Covid-19 is a worldwide pandemic threatening to wipe out human lives and the Port of Mombasa just like many other industries is not exceptional," Mr Salim said in a statement.
"As of April 13,  KPA had seven confirmed Covid-19 cases. Four of these cases involve KPA staff while three are contracted cleaners working in the port."
The acting MD said all those who had contacts with the patients were identified and quarantined within Mombasa.
"Currently, all the patients are admitted at the Coast Provincial General hospital and are responding well to treatment," he said.
"To ensure compliance, isolation rooms have been set up at the Bandari Clinic, where suspected patients are temporarily held waiting for public health officers to pick them up. More rooms are being prepared for this purpose."
The authority has taken several steps to curb further spread of the coronavirus, including allowing staff above 58 years of age and those with pre-existing medical conditions to work from home, in line with a government directive on this.
To reduce human contact while doing business, KPA has enabled on-line cargo documentation processes to enable customers clear cargo electronically and decongest human traffic within the port.
Mr Salim said fumigation was being carried out especially in offices occupied by staff found to be positive or suspected to have contracted the virus.
He added that plans were underway to extend this to the entire port.
The management has also acquired surgical gowns for clinical staff and those with close interactions with personnel such as pilots and security officers.
To reduce cases of infections among crew in ships, KPA and port public health officers have rolled out detailed procedures for handling vessels, which include mandatory pre-arrival reporting on board at least 48 hours before arrival in Kenya’s territorial waters.
To achieve that, masters of ships must submit a duly completed and compulsory Maritime Declaration of Health form to the port health officer.
All arriving vessels with crew and/ or passengers with recent travel histories to countries with confirmed cases of the virus within the past 14 days must undergo special monitoring and Port Health must issue restricted pratique.
The port management has suspended ship crew change until further notice. The exception is given to Kenyan crew and persons with valid resident permits.
Garbage from vessels from confirmed Covid-19 countries will not be discharged at any Kenyan port.
During his daily press briefing on Monday, Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe said the ministry will target companies whose employees have tested positive, then the geographical locations from which other cases have been reported.
He said the exercise must be done in a coordinated manner to achieve results.
“We’ve received adequate testing kits to do the job,” the CS said.
But the Dock Workers Union (DWU) Tuesday threatened to mobilise more than 5,000 of its members, who work at the Port of Mombasa, to go on strike if the KPA management does not adhere to Ministry of Health requirements to prevent the spread of the virus.
DWU Secretary-General Simon Sang expressed fears that more workers risk getting infected if KPA management does not improve its response to the disease.
He said the number of workers being taken for quarantine every day is worrying, and that that can only be avoided by adhering to MoH requirements, which the management is yet to comply with.
“KPA management has only complied with 30 per cent of the requirements, and if this does not improve in the next two days, we have no otherwise but to withdraw our members from the facility since health comes first,” he said.
The union asked KPA management to disable rolling gates to allow free movement and social distancing. “Biometric logging at the gates should be disabled, and port passes used instead. We suspect the gadgets are contributing to the spread of the virus.
“These recommendations should be observed or else we call an industrial action,” Mr Sang said. The port has been identified as an epicentre of Covid-19 after two employees succumbed to the disease."

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