Why Uhuru is Likely to Impose Back Lock down In The Coming Days

The recent lifting of cessation of movement and other restrictions in Kenya may be short-lived, as new waves of coronavirus outbreaks force countries go back to instituting total or partial lock-downs.

Kenya has been experiencing a surge in numbers, which is in tandem with the global situation with over 12 million cases reported worldwide – more than double of the cases reported just six weeks ago.

Locally, 1,562 cases have been reported between Monday and Friday this week. Between March 12 and May 27, the country recorded 1471 cases.Now, with the numbers expected to peak in the coming month, there are fears that Kenya, whose airspace and roads have already been re-opened after lifting of following cessation of movement orders, might go back to being shut down for the virus spread to be contained.

The World Health Organisation on Friday said that a return to lock down rules may be the only solution for countries experiencing continued surges in the disease outbreak.

“We all want to avoid whole countries going back into total lock down, that is not a desire that anybody has. But there may be situations in which that is the only option,” Dr Michael Ryan, Executive Director of WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme, said

Barely days into the easing of restrictions that affected the capital city Nairobi, the port city of Mombasa and the border county of Mandera, thousands have already left these locations for various destinations. Tourism spots at the coast are already opening up, and so too are places of worship that were initially observing the lockdown rules.

While announcing a lifting of the restrictions, President Uhuru Kenyatta said the containment of the virus will depend on the preparedness of the counties in handling it.Key in these would be the setting up of isolation facilities — with at least a 300 bed capacity — in every county for the absorption of expected cases of the virus.

“According to the experts and stakeholders, we have not met the irreducible minimum 100 per cent. However, consensus amongst them is that we have reached a reasonable level of preparedness across the country to allow us to re-open,” Kenyatta said.

But there was a rider to this: “Should the situation deteriorate and pose a challenge to our health infrastructure, it shall be ‘clawed back’.  In the next 21 days, we shall study patterns of interactions and the spread of the disease. Any trends that signal a worsening of the pandemic, we will have no choice but to return to the lock-down at zero-option.”

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