• The government has discharged 281 people and has tested 35,432 people since the outbreak.
• The government unveiled several economic measures to caution Kenyans from the hard times due to the virus.
Image: THE STAR
The country confirmed 22 Covid-19 patients Thursday, raising the total to 737 in the two months since the coronavirus outbreak hit Kenya on March 13.
Health CAS Rashid Aman reported that four more people had died, taking the death toll to 40. The government has discharged 281 people and has tested 35,432 people since the outbreak.
The first case was confirmed on March 13 after a Kenyan national who had travelled into the country from abroad tested positive.
Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe said that the patient landed in the country on March 5 from the US via London.
The report challenged a misconception that Africans are immune to the virus while others associated it with the climate.
Schools closed and some government institutions scaled down from March 15.
In its first month, the country had 208 cases of coronavirus with a total of nine deaths and 40 recoveries.
The country saw an upsurge of cases confirmed and deaths in its second month.
The government introduced measures to protect its citizens from the virus which has changed the normal way of life.
Several government offices and private companies asked their employees to work from their homes to reduce the chances of exposure to the virus.
Some of the restaurants and hotels were forced to close down, sending their workers home as they wait for normalcy across the country.
Nairobi, Mombasa, Kwale and Kilifi were marked as hotpots counties with high cases of the virus during the first month.
The government imposed measures to curb the spread of the virus by declaring cessation, which barred the movement into and out of the areas.
Mandera later joined the four counties after Interior CS Fred Matiang’i barred movement into and out of the county.
The CS said the step was due to the rising cases of coronavirus in the area which was 14 on May 13, Nairobi leading with 386 cases.
Also, 20 counties have confirmed cases of the virus during the second month, Machakos, Kajiado and Bomet being the latest.
The government has, however, allowed restaurants and eateries to reopen with strict social distancing and hygiene guidelines.
The country enters its third month with more optimism that the virus will reduce.
So far, several businesses have reopened in Nairobi CBD, drawing a big number of people which has caught the eyes of the government.
The government is also expected to reopen schools in its third month.
Following dusk to dawn curfew order across the country, the government unveiled several economic measures to caution Kenyans from the hard times due to the virus.
Some include 100 per cent tax relief to Kenyans earning Sh24,000 and below, reduced pay as you earn (PAYE) from a maximum of 30 per cent to 25 per cent.
The turnover tax rate was also slashed from 3 per cent to 1 per cent.
(edited by o. owino)