Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe on Wednesday, March 18, addressed the possibility of a total lockdown as confirmed cases of Coronavirus (Covid-19) in Kenya rose to seven.
Kagwe had announced that three individuals, a Burundian national and a couple from Spain who all landed in Kenya from Dubai on March 17, and March 4, respectively, had tested positive for Covid-19.
Having previously stated that a lockdown was an option on the table, Kagwe stated that the National Emergency Committee would initiate a lockdown if they were advised to do so by a team of experts currently tracking the cases and creating models based on likely scenarios.
He maintained that any decision to trigger a lock-down would be informed by facts and figures, not feelings.
See also;
http://NHIF ends special cover for civil servants, police, prisons
“We will come to that point when the NEC has determined. We are not working by ourselves. We have got a very strong team of experts in this area, who are modeling.
“They will say they have identified a person here, a person there and according to their modeling, this is the likely scenario.
“So depending on that advice, that is when we make those decisions. We must be clear that we don’t take decisions on the basis of a feeling, that Mutahi Kagwe has a feeling.
“We do it empirically so that we make decisions that are based on facts and figures,” the cabinet secretary explained.
Lockdown is an emergency protocol triggered by authorities that usually prevents people or information from leaving an area.
A number of countries affected by Covid-19 have already implemented nationwide lockdowns; among them Italy, France, and Spain.
Several other nations are mulling nationwide lockdowns after implementing a raft of measures meant to effectively control the spread of the virus.
Italy Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on Monday, March 9, for instance, announced a dramatic national lockdown that included movement restrictions, a ban on all public events, the closures of schools and public spaces such as movie theaters, and the suspension of religious services including funerals or weddings.
Military police were deployed to highways and railway stations among other areas to enforce the movement restrictions and travel ban.
Confirmed cases in Italy rose rapidly over the past few weeks, crossing past the 31,000 marks with over 2,503 deaths reported.