President Uhuru Kenyatta . PHOTO | PSCU
Governors are pushing for the closure of bars and restaurants as well as curtailment of political gatherings with Covid-19 numbers increasing, especially in the counties.
In a memorandum to be presented to President Uhuru Kenyatta on Wednesday, November 4, the Council of Governors is blaming the coronavirus cases spike on increased activities in social places.
Further, the governors also want President Kenyatta to reimpose the 5am – 7pm curfew with CoG chairman warning the situation is likely to get out of control if the State does not act swiftly.
Over the last week, the Ministry of Health has been announced over 1,000 new coronavirus cases with double digit deaths.
On Sunday, Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe confirmed that 685 new cases of the virus pushing the country’s caseload to 55,877 from a sample of 4,433 tested in the last 24 hours.
Governors are so worried about politicians defying Ministry of Health protocols in public rallies. The county chiefs are accusing the Inspector-General of Police Hillary Mutyambai of laxity in the enforcement of containment rules.
“These are some of the issues we shall present during our discussion with the President and senior health officials on Wednesday. Kenyans have dropped their guard thinking that we are out of the woods,” Oparanya said.
The Health ministry has cautioned that the government may find itself running out of options, thus imposing tougher restrictions on Wednesday.
“We already have several options on the table and anything is possible as long as it is in the best interest of the country,” said Acting Director-General, Dr. Patrick Amoth.
Speaking at the All Saints Cathedral in Nairobi, President Kenyatta said he was concerned with the recent surge in cases.
He said that the Covid-19 team was considering a number of measures to contain the spike explaining that the re-imposition of a lockdown as witnessed in March was not out of the picture.
“We are going through that difficult time where we are now wondering what to do. Do we close up? We shall be coming back to that,” he said.
Still, the President said that if Kenyans strictly heed the laid down health protocols to curb the spread of the virus a lockdown may not be necessary.
