Government spokesperson Col. Cyrus Oguna has asked Kenyans to ignore reports indicating that the country could be headed for a lockdown over the spread of COVID-19.
In a tweet, Oguna said the reports doing rounds on social media are false and meant to cause panic.
He also urged Kenyans to remain calm and refrain from consuming “content whose source can’t be verified.”
“There is information on social media of a possible lockdown in Kenya. The information is false, misinforming & causing panic. Don’t consume such content whose source can’t be verified. Let us remain calm, & only consume information from @MOHKenya or @SpokespersonGoK,” he said.
There is information on social media of a possible lockdown in Kenya. The information is false, misinforming & causing panic. Don’t consume such content whose source can’t be verified. Let us remain calm, & only consume information from @MOHKenya or @SpokespersonGoK.
— Spokesperson GoK (@SpokespersonGoK) March 25, 2020
On Monday, Oguna stated that a lockdown is always an option but Kenya is apparently “not there yet.”
“A lockdown is something that is always on the table but we don’t want to get there and we will not get there if our people are able to obey the advisory and measures that have put in place by the government,” he said during an interview with Monday Report on Citizen TV.
He did however note that should the government impose a “stay at home order”, the people will still not be exempted from paying taxes.
“The taxes cannot be entirely lifted because the government must continue to operate. The government is not a business enterprise, it must be able to fund its operations from taxes. There is no government globally that has been able to remove all taxes because of a situation like this,” he added.
On Tuesday, Health CS Mutahi Kagwe identified four high risk counties, hence fears of a possible lockdown.
They are Nairobi, Mombasa, Kwale and Kilifi counties.
“We have identified certain counties that we feel are high risk and indeed the four counties that I have counted we have always felt that these counties have got extra exposure and we have also taken measures in those counties to create extra capacity and extra response mechanism than would be in other counties,” CS Kagwe said.
The country has so far confirmed 25 cases of coronavirus with President Uhuru Kenyatta set to address the nation.
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