Speaking at a press conference at Afya House on Monday, March 30, Cabinet Secretary for Heath Mutahi Kagwe cautioned Kenyans against traveling to their villages from cities such as Nairobi in light of the spread of Coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in the country.
“We are giving an advisory that we are encouraging those who stay in Nairobi against traveling upcountry during this period,” stated Kagwe.
Justifying the recommendation, Kagwe noted that figures had indicated that many of those who lived upcountry, such as the elderly, were more likely to suffer after exposure.
“Statistics have shown that a majority of our old people live upcountry and that they are likely to get exposed as it happened in Italy by this kind of movement,” stated Kagwe.
The cabinet secretary subsequently asked those in Nairobi to remain there, with those living upcountry advised to do the same.
“We would like to urge in the strongest terms possible that those who live in Nairobi stay in Nairobi.
“Those who live upcountry to avoid traveling to Nairobi as much as they can, and when they do, to keep the social and physical distances that we are talking about,” Kagwe added.
The advisory followed the confirmation of 8 new cases of cases in the country that brought the total number of confirmed cases in Kenya to 50.
“The eight cases are now spread out in various counties in the country, Kitui has 1 case, Nairobi has 6 new cases, and Mombasa one,” he stated.
As per Kagwe, the total cases are split with Nairobi having 34 cases, Kilifi with 6 cases, Mombasa with 3 and Kajiado, Kilifi and Kitui counties registering one case each.
The CS explained that the data indicated that the continued spread was primarily through community transmissions.
“From the above data, it is evident that the virus is now being spread through community transmission. This now calls for a lot more personal responsibility among Kenyans in this fight against this disease,” he stated.
He explained the need for caution based on the fact that community transmissions meant that the disease was no longer being imported from outside the country but was now spreading organically among Kenyans.
Aside from the travel advisory, Kagwe also announced new directives that the national government was going to implement in a bid to curb the spread of Covid-19.
He provided that all boda boda operators will only be allowed to carry one passenger at any given time and that they’d both have to be wearing protective masks.
“To protect boda boda riders, we will now require them to carry one passenger to maintain a distance, and both to wear masks. Boda boda association leaders to oversee the initiative,” he stated.
CS Kagwe then turned his attention on employers, ordering them to release all their employees by 4 p.m to enable them to make it home in time for the curfew set between 7 p.m. to 5 a.m.
“It’s time for employers to support the employees who have been serving them for so long, it’s a time to give,” he announced.
The measures were intended to address and slow down the speed with which the virus has been spreading across the nation.
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