President Uhuru Kenyatta on Friday extended the 10pm to 4am curfew by two months and the ban on political rallies by 30 days in the wake of a spike in Covid-19 infections in the country.
Funerals and cremation ceremonies have been restricted to a maximum of 100 people and will be conducted within 72 hours after confirmation of death in the latest review of the measures imposed to curb the spread of the disease.
Places of worship will also have a maximum of one-third of their capacities per gathering.
The head of State said that political gatherings are super-spreaders of the respiratory disease leading to the decision to ban them as the nation grapples with a spike in infections.
Kenya recorded the highest positivity rate of coronavirus since January on Wednesday fuelling fears that the health facilities may be overrun in the coming days.
Positivity rate, which is tabulated by dividing the number of infections by the sample size, hit 14 per cent on Thursday, up from an average of 3.1 per cent in January.
“Today I direct that all forms of political gatherings be and are hereby prohibited for a period of 30 days effective midnight on this 12 of March,” President Kenyatta on Friday afternoon.
Kenya this week started the Covid-19 vaccinations and over 4, 000 persons had received the jab by Thursday as the country races against time to cut the fatality and infection rates.
“This vaccine has been tested and our medical experts are persuaded that its safety profile is bankable,” Mr Kenyatta said, urging the public to take it.
President Kenyatta has directed the Transport and Health ministries to revise public transport protocols in consultation with all stakeholders.
Source: Business Daily Newspaper.