The Bungoma County Administration has today started the distribution of free masks to residents.
The exercise led by Governor Wangamati saw about 15,000 masks handed to Bodaboda operators, fresh produce vendors and police officers.
The move is part of Governor Wangamati’s initiatives to ensure as many people as possible in the County protect themselves from the novel COVID-19.
The face masks were made in Bungoma by students and staff of the Wekelekha Vocational training center, which is one of the ten centers of excellence in vocational training in the County.
According to Wangamati, the center has the capacity to produce over 20 thousand face masks per week, with materials sourced from Rivatex in Eldoret.
The Governor also said he is working on modalities to get food donations for vulnerable families.
Two days ago, the administration commenced compulsory screening for COVID-19 for all persons entering the County.
The four entry points of Kaburengu and Bitobo Market on the Webuye-Malaba Highway, Maliki on Kitale-Bungoma Highway and Watoya on Bungoma-Mumias Road now have 24/7 roadblocks for screening.
“At every COVID-19-designated roadblock, all persons including passengers on bicycles, motorcycles, PSVs, private motorists as well as truck drivers shall stop and be screened for Coronavirus,” Governor Wangamati said.
The latest moves come in the wake of news reports of a truck driver who drove all the way from Mombasa through Bungoma to Uganda and tested positive for COVID-19 in the Northern part of the Country.
Bungoma County shares borders with three Counties: Kakamega on the South, Trans Nzoia on the North and Busia on the West. It also enjoys a vast shared international border with Uganda with a joint border post in Lwakhakha.
The County has so far quarantined and tested 70 suspected cases all of them turning out negative.
