It would be a tragedy that leaders give in to the weariness of the virus, President Uhuru Kenyatta has said.
The Head of State said this on Wednesday as he suspended political rallies for 60 days starting today.
"If the public has backslidden occasioned by diminishing stamina on the part of our leaders not leading by example..." he said.
"We as leaders have no option to give our all; we must show our people the way. Rise to the occasion and help navigate through this pandemic."
Uhuru said the positivity rate has shot up to 16 per cent in October.
"This is four times what it was in September. 38 days later it is most unfortunate that we have experienced a reversal and a serious one at that," he said.
Uhuru said Kenya is staring at a new wave of the pandemic.
"Where did we go wrong and what could we have done differently? The stringent measures saw the fall of infections," he said.
"We have backtracked and all of this built around that curve flattening. "
The president said the last eight months have taught Kenyans that civic responsibility is central in fighting the virus.
"I remind you again that the government does not have the ability to police the morality of its citizens," he said.
"It is not my desire to close down the economy, we want to remain open. But this will depend on public responsiveness of this pandemic."
On Tuesday, Deputy President William Ruto announced he had postponed tours to three counties in Eastern citing concerns of a second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.
"For this reason, I have decided to significantly scale down my public engagements until further notice," Ruto said on Twitter.
He was to tour Kitui, Machakos and Makueni this weekend.
The DP had been crisscrossing the country, amplifying his 'hustler' movement and saying the Building Bridges Initiative report should be all-inclusive.
