Weeks after handwashing taps were installed both on the Island and mainland sides of the Likoni ferry crossing channel, a disinfecting spray booth has been installed in the channel.
The booth launched on Monday by the Mombasa governor Ali Hassan Joho just a week after installation works began.
According to the governor, the units are not only fixed with sanitizing disinfectants but they are also fixed a thermal camera to check temperatures of those using the busy channel.
According to the World Health Organization, other than a dry cough, a common symptom of COVID-19 is a high fever occasioned by abnormal body temperatures which can be anything above 37 degrees.
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“This spraying technology allows a comprehensive surface coating with disinfectant subsequently the microbial presence of bacteria and fungi can be reduced,” the county said on Monday.
The booths were installed in a collaboration between the Hassan Joho Foundation, the Suleiman Shabhal Foundation, the Technical Univesity of Mombasa and the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce(KNCCI).
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According to the Mombasa governor, the booth which was imported china is a pilot project that would help pave the way for the installation of a bigger project that would make it mandatory for ferry users to disinfect themselves.
“Over the weekend we have noticed people crossing the channel and their temperatures were above forty degrees which is very alarming.This technology will help us monitor such and therefore I call upon the people of Likoni to cooperate with health officials whenever they are called upon for further checkups after being singled out due to their body temperatures” Joho said during the launch on Monday.
Mombasa becomes the latest city to install disinfectant spray booths after authorities in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia installed the spray booths late last month.
The booths have also been used in China, where the virus originated.
