At least five counties are staring at the reintroduction of stricter Covid-19 measures, as Kenya’s positivity rate remains at over 10 per cent in the last few days.
On Sunday, the National Emergency Response Committee (NERC) chaired by Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe held a crisis meeting to deliberate on a raft of measures aimed at containing the spread of the virus in the country.
Kahawa Tungu has learnt that the committee expressed concerns over the Covid-19 situation in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kericho, Nakuru and Turkana counties.
The five counties were marked as Covid-19 hotspots, setting them up for a possible lockdown to avoid overwhelming the ill-equipped hospital, especially in rural counties.
A lockdown will further hurt the economy with many Kenyans struggling to make a living since the outbreak of the pandemic in Kenya.
Over the past week, Kenya has recorded an increase in the virus cases with the daily average nearing 400, a trend that has left medical experts and the entire Health Ministry worried.
“Experts are convinced that Nakuru, Turkana and Kericho must be placed on stricter measures, while they are still debating on whether to have Nairobi and Mombasa back on the lockdown,” a source familiar with details of the Sunday meeting intimated to Daily Nation.
Read: CS Kagwe’s Covid-19 Team Holds Crisis Meeting Amid Surge In Cases
After chairing the meeting on Sunday, CS Kagwe warned that Kenya is headed for a second wave.
In a press statement, the CS asked Kenyans to brace themselves for tougher times ahead on a day that the ministry confirmed 685 new cases and seven deaths. The new cases were detected from 4,912 samples.
Kagwe attributed the surge to recklessness after the government relaxed Covid-19 measures including the reopening of bars and curfew hours last month.
Read Also: Uhuru Orders Reopening Of Bars Under Strict Guidelines
“The spike we are witnessing has not erupted from nowhere, it’s because of defiance. Bars are not maintaining social distancing, wearing of masks, I plead with you to follow the measures so that the measures are not escalated,” he said.
The CS further warned politicians holding meetings in total disregard of Covid-19 guidelines.
Kenya’s positivity rate that had dropped to about 5 per cent has increased to over 10 per cent in the recent past following the government’s move to relax measures that were imposed in March to contain the spread of the virus.
Read Also: KRA Increases Tax For Beer, Spirits Days After Uhuru Reopened Bar
Schools reopened last Monday and a section of parents has expressed fears over the surge.
“What happens when you go to the pub, get infected then infect your children who are now back to school, think about it, they will, in turn, infect other pupils, and they will infect others, the story can unfold,” added Kagwe.
Yesterday the government confirmed 195 cases from 1,852 samples. This is a positivity rate of 10.5 per cent compared to the 4 per cent positivity rate on October 3.
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