Two institutions, the Star of the Sea High School and Tononoka High School in Mombasa County were allegedly shut down on Monday, October 19, after teachers in the school tested positive for Covid-19.
Reports reaching our news desk indicated that an estimated 15 teachers from both schools had allegedly tested positive for the virus.
Four of the teachers are from Star of the Sea High School among them, a senior teacher and three of her colleagues while 11 are from Tononoka High school.
It remains unclear whether students have undergone any tests.
Mombasa County Commissioner Gilbert Kitiyo confirmed that the schools had been closed for two weeks to allow fumigation to take place.
“This is to inform you that all school operations have been temporarily suspended with effect from today, Monday, October 19 to allow fumigation.
The school normal operations will resume on Monday, November 2,” reads a notice from the school.
The incident came a week after schools re-opened on October 12 following Education CS George Magoha’s directive on the resumption of phased re-opening.
In Nandi County, the County Health Executive Ruth Koech confirmed a case at Kabote SDA Secondary school in Nandi Hills and indicated that that the patient had since been taken to an isolation centre.
“A team of experts was dispatched to the schools and tests revealed a case at Kabote Secondary. The health teams are closely monitoring schools to ensure the situation is under control,” she stated.
Last week, the Ministry of Health announced that it will embark on random testing of Covid-19 in schools.
Director of Public Health Dr. Patrick Amoth, during an interactive session on Twitter, stated that the government had already put up a surveillance system to monitor any increased cases of COVID-19 after learning institutions reopened.
However, the government may not be able to roll out mass tests for all the students while in school due to the expenses.
