President Kenyatta has lifted the cessation of movement imposed on the Nairobi metropolitan area to contain the spread of Covid-19.
Kenyatta while addressing the nation on Monday said the ban on movement of people into and out of the Nairobi metropolis, Mombasa and Mandera counties will lapse on Tuesday at 4 am.
“By reopening the three counties, we must be cognizant of the fact that we are much more at risk when the restrictions were in place. We must exercise cautious optimism,” Uhuru said.
Uhuru said Kenya has attained a reasonable level of preparedness to handle the pandemic, hence the decision to partially reopen the country.
“There shall be no movement into and out of areas previously under movement restrictions without the public transport providers being compliant with all protocols developed by the ministry of health. To operate PSVs, the operators will require mandatory certification from MOH, in consultation with the Ministry of Transport,” he added.
At the same time, the nationwide 9 pm to 4 am daily curfew was extended for a further 30 days.
Uhuru, however, warned that the government will not hesitate to reinstate the restrictions if the Covid-19 situation in the country gets worse.
“Should the situation deteriorate and pose a challenge to our health infrastructure, we will have to revert to lockdown. In the next 21 days, we shall study patterns of interaction and spread of the disease. Any trends that signal a worsening of the pandemic, we shall have no choice but to return to lockdown at zero option,” warned Uhuru.
