NAIROBI, April 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Police in Kenya implementing coronavirus restrictions have arrested four people who disguised themselves as mourners taking a body for burial.
They had left the capital, Nairobi, and travelled 370km west with an empty coffin in the vehicle before being intercepted, Health Minister Mutahi Kagwe said.
Nearly two weeks ago, travel in and out of Nairobi was restricted, along with another three regions considered to be coronavirus hot spots.
The group of fake mourners had managed to pass through several checkpoints before suspicious officers in Homa Bay County opened the coffin, Kagwe said.
The driver later tested positive for Covid-19, the respiratory illness caused by the virus. His three passengers have now been put into quarantine.
The minister said officials were investigating various schemes allegedly being used to circumvent the travel ban, including reports that people had been bribing police at roadblocks.
The East African nation has recorded 262 cases of Covid-19, including 12 deaths.
Meanwhile, search and rescue efforts are under way in western Kenya where heavy rain has caused mudslides and flooding.
Local reports say that a police post, several schools and a market in West Pokot County have been submerged and a number of households left marooned.
But the Kenya Red Cross says the floodwaters have left the area inaccessible, hampering the struggle to reach those affected.
It also said about 15 people were missing in the neighbouring county of Elgeyo-Marakwet.
Local officials have urged the government to provide helicopters to help.
Last November, dozens of people in the area were killed and hundreds displaced after torrential rains caused huge landslides, burying entire villages. — NNN-AGENCIES
