Kenya: Busia country's school records 60 COVID-19 cases after classes resumed

A school in Kenya's Busia County has recorded nearly 60 COVID-19 cases just three weeks after classes resumed, according to a news report by Nation.

County officials said on Tuesday that 52 students, four teachers, and two support staff from Kolanya Boys Secondary School tested positive for the virus.

The shocking number of infections was confirmed by Busia Governor Sospeter Ojaamong, who announced that the cases were from 100 samples that were randomly picked by public health teams for testing.

Addressing the press on Tuesday, the county boss said the positive cases have been isolated within the school and the rest of the school fraternity quarantined within the premises to contain the spread of coronavirus.

"Medical staff has been deployed to the school to manage the situation," he said.

Busia chief officer for health services Dr. Isaac Omeri said all the patients are in stable condition at an isolation center.

“We are closely monitoring their condition and have put them on treatment and they are responding well,” said Dr. Omeri.

He said the cases were detected after public health officials carried out random tests at the school.

“Our teams are currently carrying out surveillance at the school to establish how the infections spread to the school and take the necessary measures to contain the situation,” said Dr. Omeri when contacted on phone.

Governor Ojaamong said a total of 2,016 cases have been handled at the county's isolation centers. 

In Busia County, a total of 10 fatalities have been recorded. 

"In Bunyala Sub-county, we have lost four people, Butula (2), with one case in Samia, Teso North, Nambale and Matayos Sub-counties respectively," he said.