Reopening of restaurants does not mean license to start selling alcohol, health CS Mutahi Kagwe has warned.
Addressing reporters at Afya House on Monday, the CS said that bars will still remain closed.
“This is not a licence to start alcohol sales, we have not opened bars,” he cautioned.
He gave a series of guidelines that restaurant owners will be required to adhere to.
Kagwe said that the establishments will only operate between 5am and 4pm even as cases of coronavirus increase.
Workers at these food joints will be tested for the respiratory disease while customers will at all times maintain a distance of 1.5 metres.
Servers and customers will also have to wear face masks, sanitize and wash their hands.
Buffet services will not be provided at the joints.
“We want to make our own measures based on our own experiences as compared to other countries. The restaurants will operate between 5 am to 4 pm and they must maintain the social distancing that is required.
“Restaurants will not be allowed to serve buffet while patrons must sanitise and wear face masks.
“Anybody walking into a restaurant should walk in with a mask, sanitise their hands and if your staff has not been tested you cannot open a restaurant.”
Restaurants will also limit the number of diners to four people for every 10 square metres space.
Alcohol shall, on the other hand, only be sold with a meal in the restaurant and to customers waiting to be served a meal, during the meal, or 30 minutes after the meal has ended.
Meals will be delivered to customers to the dining table by appointed restaurant stewards
On Saturday, President Uhuru Kenyatta said that restaurants that meet the health guidelines will be allowed to reopen their doors.
“One immediate step from the work done so far is that we will allow a few restaurants and eateries that show the highest levels of health regulation compliance, and the ability to arrange for employee testing, to undertake minimal operations while maintaining measures that mitigate against the spread of the coronavirus,” he said.
He did however note that those that go against the protocols will be shut down indefinitely.
In Nairobi alone, at least 5,000 entertainment spots remain closed.
4,000 others in Mombasa have closed their doors for a month now.
Currently, Kenya’s COVID-19 cases stand at 363 with 114 recoveries.
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