Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Wednesday announced an extension to the nationwide dusk-dawn curfew for a further 30 days in an attempt to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The extension comes despite progress being made in reducing COVID-19 infections President Kenyatta noted that infections in the country are now at a manageable level and the country had a chance to reach the 5 percent positivity rate recommended by the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) for total re-opening.
“We note the good progress we have made so far in fighting this enemy, but, this positive news is no license for us to drop guard and backslide from our path of responsibility,” he said.
President Kenyatta also announced a raft of other measures during his televised address.
Bars and nightclubs will remain closed for an additional 30 days. However, the ban on the sale of alcohol by licensed hotels with residence was lifted.
“In the next 30 days, bar owners, in consultation with the Ministry of Health will develop self-regulating mechanisms as part of their civic responsibility to their clientele, in order to allow their resumption,” Kenyatta said.
The president also announced a lifting of a ban on the sale of secondhand clothes adding that details of how that will proceed and the protocols for the same will be announced by the government on Thursday.
While a ban on mass gatherings remains in place, the number of people attending funerals and weddings was increased from 15 to 100 subject to observance of health protocols by the Ministry of Health.
