Kenya extends curfew and lockdown for 30 days

Kenya has extended its dusk-to-dawn curfew, as well as cessation of movement in and out of the capital, Nairobi, and the port city of Mombasa by another 30 days.

Giving a speech on Saturday, President Uhuru Kenyatta said the decision had been reached following the increase in patterns of coronavirus infections in the two cities.

However, he announced lifting of the ban on cessation of movement into and out of the Eastleigh area of Nairobi and Mombasa Old Town Area. He also lifted a similar ban in the counties of Kilifi and Kwale due to successful containment of the disease.

The time of the dusk-to-dawn curfew was changed from 9 pm to 4 am from the previous 7 pm to 5 am. This is meant to give Kenyans the opportunity to enjoy a full-day's work.

Kenyatta also extended international travel restrictions. He directed the Ministry of Transport to engage all key stakeholders and develop protocols to guide resumption of local air travel within the next seven days.

The ban on all forms of gatherings, including but not limited to political gatherings and social gatherings, including bars, was also extended for a further 30 days.

The president directed the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health to issue and publicize guidelines of a gradual reopening of schools on Sept 1.

Kenyatta said according to advice from his team of experts, the minimum for lifting the restrictions has three thresholds. One is infections must be contained and headed downwards.

Two, the health care system must be prepared sufficiently to take on a surge in infections and access to testing, isolation and quarantine must be a bare minimum. Three, capacity for surveillance and contact tracing must be in place.

"The question we must ponder is whether we have met this threshold in order to lift the restrictions. Have the cases of infections taken a downturn, for instance? And the answer is NO. Nairobi and Mombasa are taking the lead with new infections," Kenyatta said.

Kenyatta said $47 million has been disbursed to counties to increase their health care capacity in view of the pandemic.

"Truth be told, if we had not taken the stringent measures we did in March 2020, the rate of infections would have peaked to 800,000 people by July 30. And if one infected person has potential to infect two people, this number would have hit 2.4 million people in 21 days," Kenyatta said.

"By the end of August, 75,000 Kenyans would have died from this virus. But because of the early interventions we took, we have recorded only 2,600 infections and 83 deaths."

The president assured Kenyans that he will do all that is necessary to limit the negative effects of coronavirus on the people, economy and livelihoods.

"Rest assured, my administration will restore our lost livelihoods, our lost opportunities and our lost wealth," he said.