Mohamed Warsama, an old timer journalist, is a prolific reporter. He publishes a newsletter on WhatsApp, which I read avidly.
Recently, Mr Warsama filed one on a prominent Coast man who was diagnosed with Covid-19. Rather than go to hospital, he took off, crossed the border into Tanzania and was arrested and confined in that country.
Somehow, he broke loose and hid in his house — he has homes in both countries — where his condition got worse.
By the time he was being taken to a local hospital, which was busy attending to other patients, it was too late and the man died.
Had he stayed, he would have been treated either in the field hospital set up by Governor Hassan Joho, Pandya Memorial, Coast General, Aga Khan or, indeed, any of the many hospitals in Mombasa, where he stood a very good chance of recovery.
Five residents of Old Town, along with their families, disappeared after testing positive for Covid-19.
The tragedy and folly and taking off means that uninfected members of the family could also become infected and they will be spreading the disease wherever they go.
Each patient infects about four people: five families can cause a lot of damage — infect a whole lot of people with lots of tragic consequences.
I, of course, do not understand this blind terror and the desire to flee, without taking into account the consequences for oneself, the family and those around one.
I suppose if I had symptoms, I would be running towards — not away from — a hospital. In any case, you have to calculate where you are fleeing to.
The most important piece of equipment in Covid-19 treatment is a ventilator, which helps the patient to breathe even when their respiratory system is battered by this vicious bug.
Mombasa’s public hospitals have 18 of them. There are more in the private hospitals and, with the splitting thing, they can probably treat 50 or more patients.
If you flee to the Central African Republic, where there are three ventilators for five million people, for instance, you will probably not have done yourself any favour.
The same instinct is driving people to defy the danger and crowd at an airstrip for daily drunken parties. Or others to hold balcony parties where meat is eaten, and beer drunk, and no distance, social or otherwise, is maintained.
Yet others will smuggle relatives from upcountry or neighbouring countries to come and live with them during the lockdown.
Still, others will beat the lockdown to take the children upcountry to stay with grandparents. It is now being said that a good proportion of Eastleigh residents took off before the lockdown came into effect.
Bottom line? We’re a nation of jokers. We will not allow our safety and that of the people around us to moderate our desire for the normal comforts, our search for pleasure and human company.
We also don’t seem to realise that being unwell is not a curse and it is not our fault; that we don’t need to run away.
Also, people will get the virus from loved ones, not necessarily strangers. The assumption that the company of a loved one is safe is totally illogical.
You can choose to stay alive and protect the ones you love, but you have to sacrifice some conveniences.
The second communal sin, which has been exposed by this virus from the East, is an incurable nursing of our rights even in situations that require sacrifices.
Now, I’m all for rights, mine and yours. But if your life depends on curtailing your freedom of movement, what’s more important?
There are many cases in court today challenging all manner of actions taken to slow down infections.
I will not presume to judge the merits of these cases; it would be illegal to do so. But the right to life is supreme; I think.
Thirdly, the ugly politics that we left behind with the ‘Handshake’ is beginning to come back, albeit in a different form.
The fights in Jubilee are getting uglier, filthier and more concerted. I’ll not be surprised if, in a matter of weeks, or perhaps months, we leave what we’re doing entirely and go to back spending our days in funny clothes addressing rallies and not doing anything productive.
One of the reasons Kenya is not a developed country is cheap, corrupt politics. And it is slowly taking hold of the country.
But the worst sin of all is corruption. We may faithfully troop to church and pontificate about values at the nearest podium.
The truth is, we’re a nation of thieves too. If it is not nailed down, we will make away with it.
And so, our curfews and lockdowns, from what I hear, are sometimes cash points. I pray that there is no scandal attached to the virus fight; I fear my prayers might be in vain.
So I say let’s pull ourselves together, refrain from merrymaking for a few weeks, stop fleeing from help, not be too quick to play the victim, let’s take a break from thievery, forget the politics for a while and focus entirely on staying alive and protecting our loved ones.
Credit: Source link