This archive report was first published on 7 June 2020.
On June 7, 2020, President Uhuru Kenyatta announced that he would not extend the lockdown in Eastleigh, Nairobi, which had been in place for 30 days. The decision was met with relief by residents and business owners, who had been struggling to make ends meet during the lockdown.
Eastleigh, which is home to Nairobi's largest business hub, was bustling with activity on Sunday, with tens of trucks offloading goods and matatus and boda boda operators back in business. The streets were crowded, and shopping malls like Emirates, Bangkok, and Hongkong were all open.
Residents were visibly excited, with many saying they could now comfortably feed their children now that their businesses were back. Eastleigh is said to contribute 25 percent of the city's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), making its stake to the economy significant.
While coronavirus infections in Eastleigh and Old Town in Mombasa have not been fully contained, President Kenyatta said the situation had greatly improved. He urged Kenyans to continue observing precautionary measures issued by the Ministry of Health to avoid further spread of the disease.
President Kenyatta also announced that the ban on all forms of gatherings, including churches and political gatherings, would remain in place as the government seeks to engage stakeholders for a lasting solution. He declared that he would only re-open the economy once infections of COVID-19 go down.
According to President Kenyatta, the current containment measures if relaxed by 20 percent, will rise to 200,000 with 30,000 deaths by December. If they were to go even further and relax them by 60 percent, the pandemic will peak in October with 450,000 infections with 45,000 deaths.
