This archive report was first published on 27 June 2020.
President Uhuru Kenyatta's administration is considering extending the partial lockdown for another 14 days, citing the counties' lack of preparedness to handle COVID-19 infections.
According to a senior official from the Health Ministry, the decision to extend the lockdown is informed by the counties' poor levels of preparedness, which could put the lives of Kenyans at risk.
President Kenyatta emphasized that the decision to reopen the country's economy will be based on the level of preparedness by the devolved units to respond to COVID-19 infections.
He noted that the counties' capacity to effectively respond to new cases of COVID-19 imported into their territories will largely determine the nation's readiness to reopen.
“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.
He added, “I say this because the nation is the sum total of all the 47 counties. If the counties have met the necessary thresholds, then the nation will be ready to re-open.”
The President made these remarks during a virtual meeting of the national and county governments coordinating summit, which was also attended by Deputy President Dr. William Ruto and representatives of religious and business sectors.
