Tension is brewing at the Pride Inn Lantana hotel after Kenyans quarantined there refused to pay the hotel for the 14 extra isolation days directed by the government.
While announcing the extension, Health director general Dr Patrick Amoth said some people in isolation centers had close contact with some of those who tested positive for the virus.
One of those in isolation, who sought anonymity, told Nairobi News that health officials at the facility had reportedly written to Dr Amoth seeking to have them released as they had followed state guidelines and also tested negative for Covid-19.
“They are supposed to look at every facility on its own merit. The ministry official attached here says they have written to the DG saying that we have observed all the guidelines, and we should be released. But they have told us there was another report from NIS that has been used to bring about this directive of holding us here,” the source who sought anonymity said.
Currently, according to the source in isolation, they have reportedly been locked out of their rooms after they refused to pay the Sh 6,000 per night charged by the hotel.
“They have refused to transfer people to other cheaper facilities. The hotel has refused to provide food for lunch, saying as per their system we are checked out; some people have diabetes, and people will starve,” the person lamented.
Fifty-six people were kept at the hotel with the latest group arriving on March 23 after landing in the country from Ethiopia.
They were all tested on March 29 and one person tested positive for Covid-19 and was immediately moved to hospital.
They are now demanding to be moved to a cheaper facility as they have exhausted all their savings, saying each person has spent Sh84,000 during the initial 14 days, and cannot afford the extra fortnight.
“The money is a lot. If we are going to spend another 14 days, then they should move us to cheaper facilities. They have called for Security back up. GSU lorries are at the gate. We are not criminals; we are Kenyans, and we want to be treated as such,” our source said.
Some families at the facility accuse the government if violating its own Mandatory Quarantine Discharge protocol that allow patients with co-morbidities, pregnant and those aged above 60, people with disability and special medical conditions to go home if they test negative.
“It seems there’s an incentive for MOH officials to keep us in hotels. It just doesn’t add up,” one of those at the facility told Nairobi News.
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