Eastleigh, Old Town lockdown extended till June 6

The government has extended the partial lockdown in Eastleigh and Old Town in Mombasa.

The cessation of movement will be in effect until June 6.

"The restaurants and malls are to remain closed until then," Kagwe said during his briefing on Wednesdays.

Kagwe said the extension was because the areas were still a challenge in regards to cases surging.

"Mombasa continues to be a challenge. Thirty of the 66 cases reported today are from Mombasa," Kagwe said.

Kenya's Covid-19 cases have risen to 1,029 with 66 new cases recorded.

This is the highest number since the first case recorded.

Kagwe said 64 of the new cases are Kenyans, while two are foreigners.

A total of 30 are from Mombasa, while 26 are from Nairobi. Three of the new cases are in Kajiado.

On May 6, the government locked down Eastleigh and Old Town as coronavirus cases surged.

"You cannot leave the area to go to another area," Kagwe said.

Kagwe said that the residents are allowed to walk within the area, adding that, "We do not want to lock people in their houses."

Eastleigh is both a business hub and a residential area, categorised as North, South, and Airbase. Residents are mainly Muslims of Somali extraction.

The arrival of huge numbers of refugees after the fall of Somalia's President Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991 transformed the once-quiet residential zone into "Little Mogadishu".

Dozens of malls and hotels have sprouted in the past 30 years, attracting thousands of shoppers across the country and the rest of East Africa.

The growth has, arguably, been funded by transnational Somali networks who bring merchandise - mainly clothes and electronics - from Dubai and China.

By yesterday, the malls had reopened and it was business as usual in disregard of social distancing.