Coronavirus: Kenyan priest confirmed with Covid-19 after officiating at funeral
- Priest, who is believed to have travelled from Italy just days before service, may face punishment, local official says
- Scores of people who attended funeral now in self-isolation
The funeral, for the mother of a local nun, was held in a village in Siaya county on March 13, just two days after the priest, who was identified only as a Kenyan citizen, arrived in Nairobi on a flight from Rome. He is believed to have travelled from the capital to Siaya by bus.
The priest tested positive for Covid-19 at the weekend after travelling back to Nairobi, where he is now being treated in hospital.
Once his condition became known, local officials made an appeal to all those who attended the funeral to put themselves in isolation.
Since then, at least 60 people have done so, including 14 of the priest’s own family, relatives of the woman who was buried, and five other priests and three nuns.
In a country already struggling to contain the spread of the deadly pathogen, the commissioner of Siaya said that the priest could face punishment if it transpired he had returned from Italy – where 7,500 people have lost their lives to Covid-19, more than twice the number of any other nation – without self-isolating on his return as now required.