The government is now tracing people who interacted with a Rome-based Catholic priest who led mass during a burial in Ugunja, Siaya County, on March 14, 2020.
This after it emerged that the priest since identified as Father Richard Onyango Oduor, is among the eight people who tested positive for the coronavirus as announced by the government on Sunday.
Confirming the incident, Siaya County Commissioner Michael Ole Tialal said Fr. Oduor — who hails from Ambira — returned to the country on March 11 and spent a day at Utawala in Nairobi before travelling home on March 13 where he conducted the burial of a close relative.
Mr. Ole Tialal, addressing the press in his office on Monday, said health staff have since been dispatched to Ambira and Lwak mission centres where there are a number of Catholic nuns who are suspected to have interacted with the clergyman.
According to the County Commissioner, the individuals will then be placed under quarantine for at least the prescribed 14 days.
He also revealed another person from Ng’iya area in Alego/Usonga sub-county who reportedly arrived into the country secretly from India through Tanzania had also been tracked down.
Mr. Ole Tialal called on those who may have interacted with the said person to come forward and be tested for the coronavirus.