A section of Kenyans were in high hopes that President Uhuru Kenyatta would ease down if not remove some of the restrictions set by the government to curb the transmission of the coronavirus disease.
In his Seventh Presidential address on the coronavirus pandemic on May 27, Kenyatta hinted at a possibility of reopening the economy triggering anxiety and excitement that would in the end be short-lived.
However, on Saturday, to the much-disappointment of many Kenyans, the President extended the COVID-19 containment measures for another 30 days saying that even though he personally wanted to reopen the economy he was strongly advised against the move.
“I must admit that opinion was divided on how we are to advance against this virus. Some, including myself, wanted to open up now. That was, and is still my desire. I want to open up at the earliest opportunity and get the economy going,” he said.
nted to reopen the economy he was strongly advised against the move"
The Head of State cited the rising rate of infections and projections by the Ministry of Health on possibility of a spike in the spread of the virus as a reason for the extension of the measures.
“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 30th And if one infected person has potential to infect two people, this number would have hit 2.4 million people in 21 days. 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,” he said.
Kenyatta said according to health experts in the government, relaxing the interventions by 20% would lead to 200,000 infections and 30,000 deaths by December 2020.
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