Kenya govt shuts down top hotels after cholera outbreak

By Magdalene Mukami

NAIROBI, Kenya (AA) - Kenyan Health Ministry Wednesday shut down two top Kenyan hotels following a cholera outbreak that claimed the lives of four people since May.

At least 102 people have been admitted to the Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi by Wednesday morning, with some in critical condition.

Making the announcement on Wednesday, Kenya’s Health Minister Cleopa Mailu said that the waterborne disease had so far affected 12 of 42 counties in the country, with 381 cases reported in various hospitals across the east African country.

“We have so far closed down two hotels [Jacaranda and San Valencia hotels] and we are putting up measures to ensure all hotels operate with the set guidelines,” Mailu said after visiting some of the patients who had been admitted to hospital.

Two Kenyan ministers and hundreds of delegates were last week admitted to various hospitals in Nairobi suffering from cholera like symptoms.

Kenya’s health minister has stripped all hotels in Nairobi off their medical certificates for food handling following the cholera outbreak that has so far claimed four lives.

He said that the hotels will have to be reviewed again to see if they comply with the required standards.