Kenyan president announces phased re-opening of country

Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta on Monday announced a phased re-opening of the country and lifting of the cessation of movement order that barred entry into and out of Nairobi, Mombasa and Mandera counties, which he said will end on Tuesday at 4 am.

"Today I order and direct that the cessation of movement into and out of the Nairobi metropolitan area, Mombasa county and Mandera county that is currently enforced shall lapse at 4 am Tuesday, July 7th 2020," Kenyatta said in a televised address.

However, the president extended the nationwide 9 pm to 4 am curfew by a further 30 days. In addition, the president was quick to caution Kenyans that should they slack at taking precautions or should the coronavirus trend take a bad turn, the state will not hesitate to reintroduce the restrictions.

"By re-opening Nairobi, Mombasa and Mandera, we are more at risk than we were when the restrictions were in place. We must, therefore, exercise cautious optimism, and avoid reckless abandon," Kenyatta said.

"Should the situation deteriorate and pose a challenge to our health infrastructure, it shall be clawed back.  In the next 21 days, we shall study patterns of interactions and the spread of the disease.  Any trends that signal a worsening of the pandemic, we will have no choice but to return to the lock-down at zero-option," he added.

Under the phased re-opening, places of worship also will resume operations in strict conformity with all applicable guidelines. However, Kenyatta noted that no congregants under 13 or over 58 should be allowed in, while those with underlying health conditions also have been cautioned against congregating to worship. 

"In line with the guidelines issued by the Inter-Faith Council, only a maximum of 100 participants will be allowed at each worship ceremony and not be more than one hour, while Sunday schools and madrassas shall remain suspended until further notice," Kenyatta said.

Under the new guidelines, local air travel will resume on July 15 in strict conformity with the recommendations of the ministries of Health and Transport.

"Conscious that the movement of people is a catalyst for the spread of the disease, there shall be no movement of public transport vehicles into and out of the areas previously under cessation of movement restrictions without public transport providers being compliant with all protocols developed by the Ministry of Health," Kenyatta said.

Kenya has so far recorded 7,886 confirmed cases of the virus, with 160 deaths, according to the latest statistics from the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention.