Covid-19 Response in Baringo & Elgeyo Marakwet Counties
Introduction
Since the announcement of the first positive case of Corona Virus on the 13th March 2020, County governments, national government representatives in the grassroots and security teams continue to enforce the guidelines placed by the Kenyan government on social distancing, hygiene, voluntary and mandatory quarantine. In effect, schools closure, ban of the public meeting including religious gatherings, funerals, weddings and mandatory washing of hands have been effected in Baringo and Elgeyo Marakwet Counties. However, there has not been full compliance to the guidelines by community members due to lack of awareness on the severity of the COVID disease, modes of transmission, the symptoms, and protective measures that need to be adopted at a personal level.
Whereas there are efforts to raise awareness on the Corona Virus across the country using the available media, there was noted a need to translate, upscale and devolve the information on Covid-19 including modes of transmission, symptoms, need for quarantine and social distancing to local communities.
In the month of April 2020, NCCK with support from Dan Church Aid (DCA) collaborated with North Rift Economic Bloc (NOREB) to increase the level of awareness of community members on the COVID-19 disease at the grassroots by utilizing clergy and community organizers. This was done through a series of activities that included a translation of COVID guideline materials to local dialects; printing of posters and stickers for distribution to villages; recording of short videos clips of religious leaders offering messages of hope shared on various mainstream and social media platforms; and purchase and distribution of 500cartons of bar-soap, 20 cartons of sanitizers, 6,000face masks and 120 buckets for hand washing in public spaces in Elgeyo Marakwet and Baringo Counties. These were undertaken through a short-term project that was guided by two main objectives:
(i) To raise awareness of community members in 16 wards in Elgeyo Marakwet and Baringo Counties on the Covid-19 disease
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(ii)To enhance the capacities of religious leaders and community leaders for prevention of Covid-19
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