If it were an indipendent nation, instead of one of Kenya's counties, Kilifi would be one of the safest in the world in the Covid-19 emergency.
The data is obviously partial and in a week, a month or two we can tell another one present, but until now numbers and facts speak, that is what lies behind the official data.
The numbers say that for more than a month in Kilifi County there hasn't been a single case of positivity to the Coronavirus, so since last March 22nd we've stopped at 11 and that almost all cases are linked to a single person, the Vice Governor of the County returned from Germany, who infected colleagues and also an employee of a branch of the Kilifi DTB bank, which was closed for a few days, with employees swabbed and quarantined.
All those infected, both positive and negative, were checked and judged cured after 14 days.
Behind the numbers is also the real situation in hospitals, where patient admission is regular and since the beginning of March even lower than in the same period last year.
Just as much less so is the presence of deceased people in the mortuary.
This does not mean that there can be no cases of suspicious deaths, but in the meantime, with the decrease in traffic, the second cause of death in the country, which are road accidents, is diminishing.
The first cause has always been pneumonia. National figures indicate that deaths from "pneumonia" in Kenya increased by 7% in March, which is not a worrying figure. In Kilifi County they should be even less.
No emergency for now then, and it is Governor Amason Kingi, in an interview with the national newspaper Daily Nation, who explains some of the reasons.
"We were timely," says Kingi, "and ahead of all other counties when it came to implementing strict containment measures to curb the spread of the virus. We decided to take serious and rapid action as soon as panic broke out at the first positive case announcement.
According to public opinion, it was a "good thing" that the first case of Covid-19 infection was a representative of the institutions. This moved the County Government with an even more acute sense of responsibility. When Vice Governor Gideon Saburi tested positive for Covid-19 on March 22, the county health team began selective work to track all contact with "patient zero" in the days following his arrival from Europe, putting more than 100 people in quarantine.
Contacts included the same county staff, police officers, NGO officials, politicians and villagers who had attended a funeral where Saburi was present.
When on April 6th President Uhuru Kenyatta decided to close the borders of the coastal regions and Nairobi, after suspending all international flights on March 25th, residents of the capital were de facto prevented from coming to the coast, especially in view of Easter, a time when many Kenyans are used to holiday by the sea. The Nairobi-Mombasa fast railroad, which also has a station in County Kilifi, in the town of Mariakani, from where you can easily reach Kilifi and Malindi by bus or matatu.
To the government's containment measures, Kingi has added county specific measures, further sealing the border with nearby Mombasa County, where the virus (though not impressive numbers, but now cases have risen to 97 with 3 deaths).
"We first warned the public transport operators that they would have to respect the rules of social distances and masks - explained Kingi - then we identified the places at risk and decided to close down every public place, approving only take-away, banning funerals, social gatherings, large companies such as cement and salt pans and regulating markets, places of religious and non-religious gathering.
Kingi also dwelt on the concern that in the first few days leaked out because of Malindi and Watamu, tourist places frequented by many Italians, with a large community of residents.
"We expected an implosion of the virus in Malindi, due to the presence of a large Italian community - admitted the Governor - given the serious situation in their country. But the closure of the borders, the departure of many and the return flight operated by the Embassy, which saw 150 Italians return to their homeland, was a good blow. The evening curfew, which avoided contact between people in night clubs and entertainment venues, especially in Mwtapa, gave another good hand".
One of the other secrets of zero growth for 35 days now is the easy monitoring of border areas. There are very few roads to enter Kilifi County: three from Nairobi-Mombasa, one from Mombasa-Malindi and one from the north, coming from Garsen and Lamu.
For the rest there are only dirt tracks where the local police have done a great job of control.
"The County police have been saved in the border areas - explained the Deputy Commissioner of the Ganze district, Richard Karani to the Daily Nation - our security team has implemented strategies with the community to alert outsiders and individuals who might try to sneak in from Mombasa.
Finally, awareness raising: Kingi recalled that he has provided vehicles and communication systems in all 35 constituencies in the county to get the messages to the local population, as well as starting production of 500 masks to be distributed to even the most remote areas.
Among the other reasons for the success of the containment in and around Malindi, also the great activity of the local community of entrepreneurs and tourism operators, who have joined together and through donations, supported also by local non-profit organizations that usually dedicate themselves to solidarity but that have converged their efforts for this emergency, have delivered masks, disinfectants and more and are now dedicating themselves to food aid, next great commitment as the closure of the borders is containing cases of viruses, but also increasing unemployment and poverty in the region. One thing at a time, but done well. It seems to be working.