Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Health, Mr. Mutahi Kagwe warns that COVID-19 is here to stay therefore wearing face masks, washing hands with soap and social-distancing to avoid being infected with the virus is the new normal.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), no one is immune to the virus, and in Kenya alone, prominent personalities including University of Nairobi Lecturer, Dr. Ken Ouko, Kenyan comedian Charles Bukeko, popularly known as Papa Shirandula, Dr. Doreen Adisa Lugaliki, former Changamwe Member of Parliament, Suleiman Shakombo and a few others are among those who have have succumbed to COVID-19- related complications.
Media personality Jeff Koinange, motivational speaker and mentor, Pastor Robert Burale and popular photographer Tatiana Karanja alias Mama Olive, at the time of writing this article, also tested positive for the novel virus.
On her Instagram page, Tatiana confirmed that her sister, two babies, and her husband were also corona virus-positive and were all in isolation.
What was however constant in both the three personalities is the stigma that follows when one tests positive for the virus. Tatiana says that people are labeled, stereotyped and discriminated against when they are suspected to have contracted the virus. She said she has received a lot of texts from people who were afraid to speak up long after they had received treatment and been cleared
Tatiana said that she had received a lot of backlash from people she had met after she confirmed she was positive with the virus. ‘’Once you are known to have had the virus, even when you get negative some people will still not believe your health record is clean and will continue to bash you’’ she mused.
She said this discrimination prevents people from seeking health care immediately and discourages them from adopting healthy behavior and unfortunately continue living normally; mixing with everyone, and eventually spreading the disease to unsuspecting people.
Jeff Koinange on the other hand said the stereotyping is what made him speak up once he knew he was positive with the coronavirus. Via his Twitter handle, Mr. Koinange said he was asymptomatic and that he was doing well. During a Sunday Live interview on Citizen TV with journalist Victoria Rubadiri, Mr. Koinange said that the stereotyping is what made him speak up about his condition. He said he wanted to demystify the myth that once you are positive you will die.
Says Jeff Koinange, “90 per cent of those infected survive”.
Mr. Koinange noted that people are very scared of death and try to protect those around them by not speaking up about being infected. However he said according to statistics, 90 per cent of the infected survive.
Also important to note is that when the virus first began to be reported globally, it was assumed to only affect the elderly and immune-compromised individual but lately we have noted younger people and babies getting infected, according to statistics from Kenya’s Health Ministry.
Stay Safe good people. Wash your hands and wear your mask.
