COME TO WORK WITH ME: SAFETY PRECAUTIONS I TOOK AGAINST COVID-19

Excitement fills each pore in my body as I get out of bed, another great day that the Lord has granted me.

As usual, I wake at six o’clock and prepare to head to work.

It is not a normal day like I am used to; even as I leave my house today I have to be careful.

I have to stay on alert and take care of myself.

With the corona virus spread around the world, finally, it has made its way into Kenya.

I appreciate the government for taking very swift measures and encouraging those who can work from home to do so.

Unfortunately, I fall into the category of people who cannot work from home.

Even though I do not live hand to mouth where I depend on everyday wages, my job involves a lot of physical work where I have to be present and the inventory is too large and equipment too expensive to carry home.

I appreciate my employer for considering my safety and dividing the number of people who have to report to work into three groups of seven people to reduce congestion and enforce the one-meter distance rule.

 That means that I do not have to report to work every day as we each report on an alternate date.

There are days I get to self-quarantine at home.

But there are those days when I have to report to work.

Corona is real, we have seen the devastating effect it has had on so many countries across the globe, and so as I report to work, I have to protect myself.

As I walk down the road to the bus stop, I realize that the roads are not as crowded as I am used to; in fact on the little path to the main road, I am all alone.

When I get to the main road where the number of people walking has increased, I make sure to keep a 1-meter distance between me and the person in front of me. I also note that there are fewer cars on the road and I worry that I might not get a bus to work.

But I needn’t have worried.

I get to the bus and I am very grateful that the bus conductor and driver have listened to the government’s directive. Before I board the bus, the conductor hands us sanitizers for our hands.

Where we used to seat two people side by side, I now get two seats all to myself, the distance between me and the next passenger is more than 1 meter. I expected the fare to be double what I am used to paying but I noted they only added 10 more shillings on top of the normal rates. For which I am also grateful for. One thing I noted though was the fact that we still had to pay cash, so I am not touching any part of my face until I get to work and sanitize my hand.

I have stopped pressing my phone onto my ears when I receive a phone call, so I use the speaker icon when I am in private and the Bluetooth when I am in public.

From the bus destination to my actual workplace is quite a distance so I have to walk there.

I noted that there were more people on that road which makes sense.

I work in the industrial area of the city where most of the people cannot work from home as their job is hands-on.

Since that side of the road was a bit more crowded, I crossed over to the opposite side.

As soon as I got passed the security gate, there was a tap of warm water and soap to wash hands which I very cheerfully obliged.

When you get to the security desk right before going into the warehouse, we had to have our temperature measure. Mine was at 36.5 degrees Celsius.

I then made a beeline for one of the sanitizers that are scattered all over the warehouse (again thank you, employer.)

The sanitizer and I became best friends as I visited it at least once every hour.

The fear of death is a very strong drive to be clean.

Before I started working I had some warm water like I normally do every morning.

Like I mentioned before we are always about 14 people at a time working here but we have now been split into shifts to create space and ensure everyone is about 1 meter apart.

Apart from the gate, warm water and soap were also provided alongside the sanitizers in the corridors.

Also apart from the security desk, our supervisor had to measure our temperature in the morning and evening and document it.

After a day’s work and a lot of hand washing, we were provided private transportation from work to home.

When I got home, I left the days clothes in the hamper, took a shower and changed into some comfortable clothing and settled down to unwind.

That was how my day went.

I hope I took care of myself; all that is left to add on top is prayer, as we search for our daily bread.

I shall keep on being vigilant and doing my part, I hope you do so too.

Stay safe.