The announcement by Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale that Kenya has confirmed its first Ebola case must be treated as the national emergency it is. There is no room for complacency, bureaucratic delay or the recycled excuses that have marked past health scares.
Ebola is deadly and spreads fast. The isolated patient is only the starting point. Government must, from this moment, launch aggressive contact tracing to identify and quarantine everyone who may have interacted with the patient. Every hour lost is a potential new infection.
We call on the Ministry of Health to roll out clear, regular public briefings. Kenyans deserve facts, not rumours. Silence breeds panic and misinformation; transparency builds trust and cooperation.
Border surveillance, especially along our busy crossings with neighbouring states, must be tightened. Isolation centres, protective equipment and trained personnel should be deployed without the usual procurement games that cost lives.
We have seen this script before with Covid-19. The lessons are painfully fresh. Leadership, speed and honesty saved lives then and will do so now.
Duale and his team must move decisively. The health and lives of Kenyans depend on what the government does in the coming days.
Quote of the day: “The boundaries which divide Life from Death are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where the one ends, and where the other begins?” — American writer, poet and critic Edgar Allan Poe died on October 7, 1849
