{"id":26437,"date":"2020-04-07T11:47:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-07T09:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biovision.ch\/story\/glaubwuerdige-corona-aufklaerung-auf-bewaehrten-kanaelen\/"},"modified":"2022-10-25T16:48:07","modified_gmt":"2022-10-25T14:48:07","slug":"bvat-reacts-swiftly-with-practical-information-on-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.biovision.ch\/en\/story\/bvat-reacts-swiftly-with-practical-information-on-covid-19\/","title":{"rendered":"BvAT reacts swiftly with practical information on COVID-19"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Team of the Biovision Africa Trust in Nairobi<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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With almost 60% of all confirmed cases, Nairobi is the country’s corona focal point. At relatively short notice, Kenya’s president, Uhuru Kenyatta, announced in mid-March that all recent arrivals would have to go into self-quarantine at their own expense for 14 days. This constraint\u00a0and the strict rules of conduct, some of which\u00a0were enforced\u00a0by the police, have already led to criticism\u00a0within the community. In addition, the government had imposed a nationwide curfew from Saturday, 28 March 2020, which applies\u00a0daily\u00a0from 7 pm to 5 am.\u00a0The regulations are clear: Social distancing, no crowds, no gatherings, no street markets and the\u00a0facilities\u00a0left open\u00a0for basic needs\u00a0must provide water, soap and disinfectant.\u00a0Churches and other social gathering places\u00a0have been closed.<\/p>

\u201cGiven that\u00a0BvAT<\/a>\u00a0is hosted by the\u00a0International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology<\/a>, we are following the high hygienic regulations and procedures set out and overseen by\u00a0icipe. They include handwashing, sanitizing, social distancing, fumigation and disinfection of all office spaces, keeping doors open, in order to touch them less frequently\u201d, Dr David\u00a0Amudavi\u00a0explains.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

The Nairobi office is still open and we have a few staff who are on duty. However, they strictly have to adhere to governments\u00a0hygienic regulations.\u00a0BvAT\u00a0has\u00a0adopted several ways of working to ensure that services do not\u00a0come to an abrupt closure.\u00a0Therefore\u00a0the staff in\u00a0Nairobi\u00a0has\u00a0been\u00a0encouraged\u00a0to work from\u00a0home\u00a0if\u00a0possible\u00a0or to make use of the flexible work\u00a0hours\u00a0if they\u00a0still\u00a0come to the office.<\/p>

Changes for farmers and the Farmer Communication Programme<\/h2>

The\u00a0farmer trainings\u00a0conducted by the\u00a0field staff\u00a0have stopped. However, the\u00a0BvAT\u00a0resource centres remain open and\u00a0hygienic regulations \u2013 water, soap and sanitizers\u00a0have been put\u00a0in place.\u00a0In the event that hand sanitizers run out, it was recommended that 70% ethanol\u00a0can\u00a0be used. It was remarked\u00a0that hand sanitizers are complimentary to hand washing, which has been proven to be the most effective prevention of contracting COVID-19.\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cFarmers looking for\u00a0BvAT\u2019s\u00a0services can still do so via phone, email,\u00a0sms,\u00a0Whatsapp\u00a0or visit any of our farmer resource centres. These centres remain open whilst upholding all hygienic regulations as advised by our Government and health institutions \u2013 water, soap and sanitizers have been put in place\u201d\u00a0reassures Dr David\u00a0Amudavi, \u201cand social distancing is highly observed. We are at your service no matter the circumstances.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>

COVID-19: Using reliable sources and own channels to educate\u00a0<\/h2>

BvAT\u00a0has revised content plans\u00a0for both\u00a0TOF-Magazine and TOF-Radio\u00a0r\u00a0to feature information on COVID-19, especially on prevention measures such as handwashing with soap\u00a0and keeping social distance.\u00a0This helps to support\u00a0the authorities’ efforts to disseminate factual and validated information\u00a0and the\u00a0FCPs\u00a0media\u00a0efforts\u00a0to\u00a0do\u00a0so\u00a0\u00a0in\u00a0a\u00a0farmer-friendly\u00a0language that is easy\u00a0to understand.\u00a0<\/p>

Since\u00a0social media is full of information\u00a0on COVID-19 most of it is not verifiable,\u00a0people\u00a0are\u00a0getting\u00a0mixed or misinformation on\u00a0the\u00a0management of the disease. Some\u00a0people are\u00a0still\u00a0handling the pandemic very lightly, as\u00a0they have low risk perceptions.\u00a0Some have bought into myths\u00a0like\u00a0Africans are generally resistant to the virus and can\u2019t get the virus. Some believe this is just another flu.\u00a0That of course is incorrect.\u00a0<\/p>

The Ministry of Health has been giving daily live updates on the unfolding situation and\u00a0BvAT\u00a0staff\u00a0continues\u00a0to share\u00a0information and\u00a0emails to create awareness on the Coronavirus\u00a0pandemic.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Like many governments in Africa, the Kenyan government quickly took far-reaching measures to prevent the spread of the corona virus. Dr David Amudavi, Executive Director of our partner organisation Biovision Africa Trust (BvAT), based in Nairobi gives us an update on the situation on the ground, and tell us how BvAT is confronting new challenges brought by the pandemic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":4372,"template":"","exclude-from-search":[],"newsletter":[],"region":[228],"projektthema":[],"themen":[253],"class_list":["post-26437","story","type-story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","region-sub-saharan-africa","themen-knowledge"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-12 01:44:08","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"newsletter","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biovision.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story\/26437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biovision.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biovision.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/story"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biovision.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story\/26437\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biovision.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biovision.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"exclude-from-search","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biovision.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/exclude-from-search?post=26437"},{"taxonomy":"newsletter","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biovision.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newsletter?post=26437"},{"taxonomy":"region","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biovision.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/region?post=26437"},{"taxonomy":"projektthema","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biovision.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/projektthema?post=26437"},{"taxonomy":"themen","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biovision.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/themen?post=26437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}