This archive report was first published on 8 May 2020.
On December 31, 2019, a Chinese website reported a pneumonia-like illness of 'unknown cause' at the Huanan seafood market in Wuhan, China. However, this news barely registered in Kenya, where the country was preparing to enter a new year.
President Uhuru Kenyatta was in Mombasa, promising to make 2020 the most successful year in Kenya's history. Meanwhile, the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) rallies and the widening gap between the President and his Deputy, William Ruto, dominated the political landscape.
It wasn't until January 28, 2020, that the first suspected Covid-19 case was isolated at Kenyatta National Hospital, when a student who had flown in from Wuhan started to exhibit symptoms. The student later tested negative.
Despite the emergence of the virus, the government initially failed to take decisive action. It was only on January 31 that Kenya Airways was banned from flying to China, but other airlines were still allowed to operate.
As the virus spread globally, the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced on February 11 that it had given the virus a new name - Covid-19. The WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, explained that the new name was chosen to avoid stigmatising the Chinese people.
By this time, there were 42,708 confirmed cases in China, and deaths had surpassed 1,000. The virus had also spread to 24 countries, with 393 cases confirmed and one death.
However, the national focus in Kenya remained on succession politics, with the BBI rallies and the planned meetings in Narok and Meru dominating the headlines. It wasn't until February 28 that the government established the National Emergency Committee on Coronavirus, tasked with monitoring the risk posed by the virus.
As the epicentre of the virus shifted from China to Europe, Kenya's response to the pandemic remained slow. It wasn't until March 10 that President Kenyatta met with nine Rift Valley governors at State House, asking them to conduct the March 21 meeting peacefully without exciting ethnic tensions.
But it was too late, for on March 13, the government received confirmation of the first case of Covid-19 in Kenya. The first Covid-19-related death was reported on March 26 at Aga Khan University Hospital in Nairobi.
