This archive report was first published on 25 June 2020.
On June 25, 2020, President Uhuru Kenyatta emphasized that the country's readiness to reopen its economy would largely depend on the preparedness of the 47 counties to respond to Covid-19 infections.
During a virtual meeting of the national and county governments coordinating summit, the President stated that the nation's readiness to reopen would be determined by the counties' capacity to effectively respond to new cases of COVID-19 imported into their territories.
“County readiness to respond to new imported cases of infection will largely determine our national readiness to re-open the country as a whole,” the President said.
The President's statement came as the Council of Governors, led by Chairperson Wycliffe Oparanya, presented a progress report on the rollout of the minimum COVID-19 response measures required ahead of the reopening of the economy.
According to the report, counties had attained a total of 6,898 isolation beds against the national target of 30,500 units, with 12 counties meeting the 300 per county isolation beds threshold and 34 devolved units on course to meet the target within the month.
Health CS Mutahi Kagwe, however, cautioned against the reopening of the economy before the response preparedness threshold agreed upon is fully met, citing the rise in COVID-19 infections in the country.
Deputy President Dr William Ruto supported the President's proposal for progressive reopening of the economy and urged counties to speed up the implementation of Covid-19 containment measures.
