Today, the Ministry of Health on Saturday addressed claims that two individuals had contracted Covid-19 at the Industrial Area Remand Prison.
Speaking during the daily briefings from Afya House, Health CAS Rashid Aman stated that the ministry must have received the reports from the surveillance teams.
“These two cases in Industrial Area Remand Prison, I’m certain that our emergency operation centre and rapid response team must have been alerted and are aware of it.
He added that the ministry had identified correctional facilities as high-risk areas, adding that there were plans to work with the prison department to begin mass testing.
“I want to state that the correctional facilities are one of those high-risk areas we have identified because of their nature and closeness of inmates,” he stated.
“The testing will enable us to map out all the necessary measures that we require to be able to protect the inmates,” Aman added.
Prisoners have previously protested crowding and poor sanitation in the facilities, stating that it put them at a higher risk of contracting the disease.
A remandee at the prison told the media that warders did not wear masks and claimed that soaps and sanitizers at the facility were inadequate.
“In the cell where I’m currently held, we are around 89 people and the cell is not big enough, hence, we cannot keep the social distancing rule,” the remandee stated.
On March 21, 2020, the Kenya Prisons Service suspended all visits to curtail the spread of the virus.
In its statement on the same day, the Kenya Prisons Service stated that it was fully prepared to protect those in custody.
The Kenya Red Cross on May 8, donated 183 mobile phones to prisons which would help inmates communicate with their families.
“This is to allow inmates in all prisons to stay in touch with their families despite the suspension of the family visitation program imposed by Covid-19 restrictions,” read a statement on Facebook.
