This archive report was first published on 7 June 2020.
On June 6, 2020, President Uhuru Kenyatta addressed the nation from State House, outlining the conditions necessary to ease Covid-19 restrictions in Kenya.
With infections already at 2,724, and the country's largest health facilities struggling to cope, the president emphasized that containing infections and reducing numbers is crucial to opening up the country.
He also stressed the need for the country's healthcare systems to be prepared to handle a surge in infections, avoiding a scenario where hospitals are overwhelmed and patients are left without care.
According to the president, this means developing seamless home-based care systems and ensuring sufficient capacity to monitor and trace contacts, which would require more health workers.
Without these conditions, Kenya risks facing the same challenges as countries like South Korea, Pakistan, and Malaysia, which relaxed restrictions only to face difficulties.
“If this is our new reality and we face the dilemma of easing restrictions or continuing with them, what must we do as a country? What is the irreducible minimum for opening the country? What is the threshold below which we cannot go,” posed the president.
