Kenya’s reopening will be informed by the measures put in place and the level or preparedness exhibited by the various counties, President Uhuru Kenyatta said in a meeting with Governors.
Kenyatta said the government’s decision to reopen the country’s economy will be determined by the counties’ capacity to effectively respond to new cases of COVID-19 within their borders.
He made the remarks on Thursday in a virtual meeting of the national and county governments coordinating summit, ahead of the July 6 end date for the current nationwide curfew and partial lockdown.
“County readiness to respond to new imported cases of infection will largely determine our national readiness to re-open the country as a whole,” said Kenyatta.
“I say this because the nation is the sum total of all the 47 counties. If the counties have met the necessary thresholds, then the nation will be ready to re-open.”
Kenya has so far reported 5,384 COVID-19 infections and 132 deaths, according to the Health Ministry.
The latest data however shows a recent upsurge in new cases, as fears grow that the disease is taking a toll on Kenya’s health systems.
During the meeting, the Chairperson of the Council of Governors, Wycliffe Oparanya, presented a report on the counties’ state of preparedness to tackle the pandemic, which highlighted some shortfalls.
Oparanya said the counties had attained a total of 6,898 isolation beds against the national target of 30,500 units.
He also noted that 35 counties were yet to meet the required number of isolation beds, but that they were on course to do so within a month.
Kenya, like many countries globally, has taken a battering due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
The government is keen to reopen in a bid to get the economy back in shape, with advice from health professionals.
