Emily says she received calls from far and wide wishing her quick recovery, yet she did not exhibit any signs or symptoms of Covid-19
By Faith Nashipae
Enkorika residents breathe a sigh of relief, after the Kajiado Central medical officer of health Dr Alfred Sein gives a clean bill of health to a County staff suspected to have contracted Covid-19, and who hails from the area.
Emily Kilole, an executive secretary at the office of the County Speaker — had spent part of her official leave — attending a three-weeks church mission to Sweden, where they went to preach the Gospel with her colleague Florence Solonka from the neighboring Narok County.
However, on March 18, when she came back to the country, she said, she was screened at the airport, but was however required to undergo a mandatory 14-days of self-quarantine.
A day after arriving home, she said, she noted that villagers were avoiding anybody associated to her like the plague, perhaps for fear that she could have infected them with the ravaging coronavirus.
“My immediate neighbor who does sand harvesting, for instance, was shunned by his colleagues and was threatened not to join them, for fear that I could have infected him with the virus,” she said.
Attempts by the Kajiado Star to reach out to the area Chief Gideon Kasaine to comment whether he has any knowledge on the claim, were fruitless as he declined to give a comment.
Unrestrained people
Though the suspicion was expected and acceptable, given the tension and fear that has gripped people following the outbreak of the pandemic, she says, it was however excessively hyped-up by unrestrained people who took to social media to break the news that there is a “confirmed case” in the area.
In the aftermath: “People were calling from far and wide wishing me quick recovery, and my immediate family was shocked that I did not tell them that I was sick… it was such a traumatizing ordeal,” recounted Emily, a pastor and married to Bishop John Kilole of the Free Pentecostal Fellowship Kenya.
On the night of her fourth day in quarantine, county health and security officials — under the directive of the area Assistant County Commissioner — paid her an impromptu visit to find out whether she was adhering to the recommended standards of self-quarantine.
Dr Sein confirmed the visit, reporting that, “we found out that she was adhering to the standards, and we carried a physical examination on her to ascertain whether she had contracted the virus but we found out that she had no any sign or symptom.”
They left, but a day later, she received a call from the Sub-county medical officer of health who required her to move to her urban residence in Kajiado town, arguably to de-escalate the rising tension in her village.
She immediately left and continued her quarantine in town, at the end of which another test was done on her, and was found to be negative.
She urged the online users to use their gadgets responsibly, noting that some of the content that people rush to post on social media platforms could have
