CoG pushing for reopening of economy ahead of Monday review

In a report by the county bosses last week, devolved units have attained a total of 6,898 isolation beds, against the national target of 30,500 units.

Only 12 counties had met the minimum requirement of 300 isolation beds while 34 were still struggling to meet the target.

Governor Oparanya also reported that 16,914 health workers had been trained on Covid-19 management including 59,449 community health volunteers.

The report further said that 36 counties have a cumulative sum of 343 ICU beds and 28 counties have 337 ventilators.

“Through your directive that allowed county governments to procure non-pharmaceuticals from other agencies, counties have enhanced their response measures,” Mr Oparanya added.

The remarks by Mr Oparanya who is also the Kakamega governor indicate that most of the concerns have been addressed.

Apart from ravaging the economy, covid-19 pandemic has pushed the health sector to strain and implement home-based isolation and care for asymptomatic Covid-19 positive cases.

The high anticipation of full resumption of activities come as the country crossed the 6,000 mark and recorded the highest daily new cases of 307 Tuesday.

Number of positive cases in Kenya now stand at 6,673 and 149 deaths.

Private sector remains the hardest hit as companies began announcing lay offs in April adding to about 771,439 youths losing their jobs.

Kenya Private Sector Alliance (Kepsa) has reported that construction, agriculture and fisheries, security, sports, art and creative and tourism sectors have been worst hit.

The GDP data released by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, show that the economic growth has slowed by 4.9% in the first three months to March from 5.5 % in 2019 and it is still expected to drop deeper in the second quarter.