President Uhuru Kenyatta has said that his administration will consider easing the containment measures to curb the spread of coronavirus if Kenyans play their part in flattening the curve.
The president said that the raft of measures that were introduced to the five zoned counties are far less compared to the earlier ones which affected the entire country.
In a joint press address with ODM leader Raila Odinga on Thursday at the Stare House Nairobi, the president said that the restrictions were reached following the surging cases of the virus.
“These are not my measures. These are the measures that were brought to us by the professionals…they went through and we had long sessions with them and these were their recommendations, that if we are to stem this virus from continuing to kill people, the only thing we can do is to lockdown” Uhuru said.
Uhuru added that the experts had recommended extreme measures, including countrywide lockdown but he had to consider the economy and livelihoods, hence, picking the most affected counties for a partial lockdown.
“As to when these measures will be removed and go back to normal, which is our prayer every single day, it depends on how we are able to flatten this curve.”
The Head of State added that he is much aware of the difficult situation in the country at the moment but that the fact that the virus is within us cannot be ignored.
“We cannot ignore the advice that we are getting from WHO, CDC-Africa, and from our experts that the only way to save lives is to take the measures that we have taken.”
Uhuru has urged Kenyans to cooporate, and collaborate with health experts, which will lead the county back to its normal way.
The president has expressed his hope that within the thirty periods or the sooner the curve is flattened below 5 per cent, the country will resume its normalcy.
He also said that the government will find a way of cushioning the affected economy in the five locked counties but has also urged the local administrations to find a way.
“For example, we have Nakuru County which has said that there will be no licenses to be paid, and that is how they will cushion the business operators in Nakuru. We hope the other counties will also do business intervention…it will have to be a case-by-case basis because this is not a national lockdown.”
The president added that action will be taken against those who will contravene the measures that have been put in place.
Regarding the shortage of coronavirus vaccine, the president assured the country that those who have received their first dose will not miss the second one.
"We are working day and night with all different partners across the world that we are able to get this vaccine in the shortest time possible in order to ensure that first and foremost that all the frontline workers are vaccinated."
