President Uhuru Kenyatta on Monday lifted a cessation of movement order in the remaining three counties of Nairobi, Mombasa and Mandera in newly outlined guidelines on coronavirus containment.
The lifting of the ban which takes effect from 4am on Tuesday will allow Kenyans free inter-county travel as government monitors the COVID-19 situation in the next 21 days.
Kenyatta who addressed the nation from his Harambee House office added that failure to exercise personal responsibility may force the government to reverse the order.
“Should the situation deteriorate and pose challenge to our health systems. we will have to revert back to the lock down. For the next 21 days, we will study the patterns of interactions and spread of disease, any trends that signal worsening of pandemic, we will have no choice but to return to lock down at zero option,” President Kenyatta stated.
He has however extended the 9pm-4am countrywide curfew for the next 30 days.
All public transport providers operating in the three areas that were on lockdown will however require approval from the Ministry of Health on compliance of safety protocols.
“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 Ministry of Health, in consultation with ministry of Transport,” said Kenyatta.
Meanwhile, he warned that the order to reopen had been made conditionally, noting that should the situation get worse over the next 21 days, the country will revert to lock-down.
REPRIEVE FOR WORSHIP PLACES
President Uhuru Kenyatta also announced the phased reopening of places of worship in the country but extended the closure of bars for another 30 days.
President Kenyatta, said that the places of worship must first comply with set regulations before opening back their doors.
The Head of State stated that such regulations include a condition of only 100 congregants at any given worship session which he added should not take more than an hour each.
He said persons under the age of 13 years and those over the age of 58 as well as those with underlying health conditions shall not attend worship, also extending the suspension of Sunday schools and madrasas “until further notice.”
