Coronavirus fears: 3 quarantined in Kenya
Sunday February 02 2020
A section of the Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi County, as pictured on December 10, 2019. Two people have been quarantined at the hospital because of fears they may be infected with the coronavirus. PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
Two people with a high fever were on Sunday quarantined in Kenya's capital Nairobi while a third person was isolated in a hospital in the coastal region over coronavirus fears.
The precautionary measure was taken as a deadly coronavirus that originated in Wuhan, China, has left more than 300 people dead so far and thousands infected.
One of the travellers quarantined in Nairobi was from Beijing and took a Kenya Airways flight in Dubai, while the other arrived from China aboard a China Southern Airlines plane.
Early Sunday, a female medical student from Southern Medical University in Guangzhou was admitted at the Coast General Hospital after she exhibited signs of the virus infection.
The student, who arrived on Thursday, is in a private room at the Rehemtullah Ward, Mombasa County Chief Health Officer Khadija Shikely said.
PREVIOUS CASES
Last week, Kenya reported its first suspected case of coronavirus infection in a student who travelled via Kenya Airways.
The unnamed student, in his early 20s, left Wuhan for Zhangjiajie City on January 20, travelled to Nairobi through Guangzhou in China and Bangkok in Thailand on January 27 and landed at the JKIA in Nairobi on January 28.
He was put in isolation at KNH. Health Cabinet Secretary reported on January 31 that tests validated in South Africa showed the student did not have the virus.
SO FAR
Since emerging out of the central Chinese city of Wuhan late last year, the coronavirus has infected nearly 14,500 people across China and reached 24 countries.
Many of the infections overseas have been of people who had travelled from Wuhan, an industrial hub of 11 million people, or surrounding areas of Hubei province.
Meanwhile, China's central bank said Sunday it would pump 1.2 trillion yuan ($173 bln) into the economy as it ramps up support for a nationwide fight against a deadly virus that is expected to hit growth.
The People's Bank of China (PBOC) said in a statement it would launch a 1.2 trillion yuan reverse repurchase operation on Monday to maintain "reasonable and abundant liquidity" in the banking system, as well as a stable currency market, during the epidemic.