Has Meru County Confirmed Cases of the Coronavirus?

This image (see above and below) has been shared multiple times on WhatsApp by Kenyan users.

Background

Kenya confirmed its first case of COVID-19 on the 13^th of March 2020. The patient is a woman who recently travelled back to the country from the United States via London.

President Uhuru Kenyatta in a press statement on the 15^th of March confirmed 2 more cases. The two had been in contact with the first patient.

On the 18^th of March, the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Mutahi Kagwe, confirmed 3 more cases raising the number of infected people in Kenya to 7. The three new cases include a couple that arrived from Madrid, Spain, through Dubai on the 4^th of March.

Meru Level 5 is reported to have a 20-bed isolation and treatment ward as part of its preparedness to handle any COVID-19 cases.

Verification

A Twitter search shows that the corresponding image of the one being circulated was taken from this video posted by Citizen TV the 17^th of March 2020.

Utayari wa Baringo:

Kijana anayeshukiwa kuwa na corona apelekwa Nakuru kutoka Baringo. Gavana Stanley Kiptis afungua wodi ya kuwatenga wagonjwa Baringo #SemaNaCitizen pic.twitter.com/sYAQazdqwB

— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) March 17, 2020

Everything in the video, apart from the headline, matches the image being shared. Pay close attention to the background, the anchors and their body language.

The video is from a Swahili segment, ‘Yaliyomo’, which is retained in the image but the rest of the words are in English.

The Ministry of Health has been giving updates on COVID-19 and, so far, no case has been confirmed outside Nairobi.

Verdict

The image being circulated claiming 18 cases of coronavirus have been reported in Meru County is fake, making this claim FALSE.