The Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe cautioned the country on the ongoing increase in corona cases. According to Mutahi, “ this sharp rise in numbers of new infections should mean something to our country, that we must once again take urgent steps to prevent the slide into a crisis like the one we experienced in 2020 and 2021 when we lost many lives and resources”.
on 20th June 2022, the country recorded a sharp increase in coronavirus with 246 new cases from 1993 tests, which translates to a 12.6% positivity rate.
This saw Kagwe reintroduce the compulsory wearing of masks in closed spaces like public service vehicles, supermarkets, worship places, and offices
The ministry of health has launched a vaccination campaign despite injecting 8,580,397 adults and 341,473 teenagers. Additionally, 406,042 people have acquired their booster shot, whereby 31.5% being adults.
On 12 June 2022, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention demanded for passengers aged two years and beyond to provide negative COVID 19 test results before boarding a United States of America flight.
On 11th March 2022, President Uhuru Kenyatta stated, “ We mourn the lives of 5641 people and we know that although this is regrettable, ours has been a better story compared to hundreds of thousands of lives lost in some other countries”. President Uhuru insisted that “ this, however, is not to say that we are already completely out of the woods”.
We might not be out of the woods yet, since earlier this year the ministry of health introduced the 3rd dose as a booster.
What is the new directive of coronavirus?
Wearing mask
Apart from masking, the ministry of health has urged the public to show proof of vaccination during indoor meetings. Only vaccinated attendees will be allowed to hold meetings in full capacity.
Traveling restrictions
Passengers over 18 years traveling to Kenya should provide the covid-19 vaccination document. passengers that are not vaccinated should provide a letter from the medical practitioner showing recovery in the last 90 days.
Non-vaccinated passengers will be required to provide a negative covid19 PCRtest within 3 days of departure to the country.
Personal hygiene
With the fear of increased cases of death related to covid 19, Mutahi Kagwe has urged Kenyans to enhance personal hygiene such as thorough hand washing. During the launch of Bio Foods Products sustainability report Mutahi Kagwe stated,” if we continue to treat this disease normally, I will treat us abnormally”. It is about time to embrace the new norm of living with coronavirus like any other virus and get vaccinated.
Compared to the benefits such as protecting oneself from corona, we should embrace vaccination since the side effects are manageable. We should be ‘our brother’s keepers’ since we are much informed about the coronavirus, its transmission, and prevention.
