In a statement released by the county’s Governor’s Press Service on Sunday, May 10, the governor noted that when the news of the first patient became public, the pictures and personal details were splashed on social media causing untold grief to the family.
While condemning the act and terming it unethical, Governor Kuti apologised to the victim’s family and appealed to county residents to desist from castigating people suspected to have contracted Covid-19.
Kuti also urged members of the public to provide moral and emotional support to the individual’s family at such a hard time instead of taking them through such anguish.
Isiolo County Governor Mohammed Kuti speaks during a past engagement.
File
“My plea to all of us especially neighbors to the person confirmed as our first Covid-19 case is to offer psychological support needed to his family,” Kuti stated.
He also warned residents that Covid-19 was not a selective disease and that anyone in the county could contract it and end up in an isolation centre.
He further reiterated the same sentiments on TV during the Covid-19 presser where he urged other counties to make sure that the privacy of the patient and the family should be of paramount importance.
He reiterated that the measures would be important in ensuring that stigma brought about by the virus was defeated.
It remains unclear how the details of the patient were made public and made their way to the various social media platforms.
Isiolo County recorded its first Covid-19 case on Saturday, May 9, forcing the governor to visit the Garbatulla Level Four Sub-county Hospital to assess the level of preparedness with respect to the pandemic.
Speaking during the visit, Governor Kuti called upon the residents to adhere to guidelines laid by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Ministry of Health (MoH) to ensure the county did not register more cases.
“I urge all residents of Isiolo County to continue observing guidelines provided by both WHO and MoH as a measure of preventing an increase in Covid-19 cases in our county,” he stated.
