Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Wednesday announced the reintroduction of measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus, just weeks after lifting some restrictions, as the number of confirmed cases surged over the last month, reported CGTN Africa.
Addressing the nation on Wednesday, Mr. Kenyatta announced an extension of the nationwide curfew until January 3 next year between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m.
“The nationwide curfew is extended up to the third of January, 2021… that beginning tonight, the fourth of November, the curfew will now be enforced between 10 pm and 4 am in the morning,” the Kenyan president said.
He confirmed that all bars, restaurants, and other establishments have been ordered to close by 9 pm, as a consequence of changes to the curfew, with the president urging their operators to ensure that all the protocols were adhered to including limiting the attendees to the one-third seating capacity of the hall.
He also ordered civil servants aged above 50 years and anyone with compromised immunity to work from home. All political gatherings and rallies have also been suspended for a period of 60 days with immediate effect.
“Those who fail will have their establishments immediately shut down,” he added.
Kenyatta said that October has been recorded as the most tragic month in the country’s fight against the pandemic. He said the country’s positivity rate had increased to 16 percent in the month, four times what it was a month earlier.
The Kenyan president said all the schools will remain closed until January 2021 with the exception of examination classes that have already resumed.
Kenya has so far reported 58,587 confirmed cases, including a new daily record of 1,494 cases on Wednesday, and 1,051 deaths, according to data compiled by the US-based John Hopkins University.
COVID-19 has claimed over 1.21 million lives in 190 countries and regions since it was first detected in Wuhan, China in December.
