Nairobi, KENYA
The government of Kenya yesterday placed Dadaab (pictured) and
Kakuma Refugee camps under partial lockdown as the government continues to
implement measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
Interior
Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i made the announcement following a meeting of
the National Development Implementation and Communication Cabinet Committee
(NDICC) to discuss the progress of the Government’s interventions to combat
COVID-19 in Kenya.
“Following
the meeting, and in furtherance of directives to curb the communal spread of
COVID-19 across the country, the Government has ordered for the cessation of
movement into and out of both Kakuma and Dadaab Refugee Camps effective
tomorrow, Wednesday, April 29, 2020,” a tweet from Matiang’i read.
No
confirmed cases have been reported in any of the camps so far.
The
concern is that these refugee camps which are overpopulated could unwittingly
become areas in which the coronavirus could spread exponentially. Dadaab has a
population of more than 200,000 while Kakuma has a population of at least
180,000.
Dadaab
refugee camp is located in Garissa County which has not yet recorded any
COVID-19 case but borders Somalia which, having recorded 582 cases and 28
deaths is the second worst affected country in the East and Horn of Africa
regions.
Kakuma
refugee camp is located in Turkana County in the northwest, a region that has
also not yet recorded a positive COVID-19 case.
Both
refugee camps have been added to the list of areas in which movement into and
out of them has been restricted. The Nairobi Metropolitan Area and the counties
of Kilifi, Kwale, Mombasa and Mandera are the others.
A
charity organization CARE has expressed its concern saying Dadaab has no health
infrastructure in place that could deal with an outbreak. Philippa
Crosland-Taylor, the country director said that a potential outbreak would
be a “disaster”.
The
total number of coronavirus cases in Kenya as of April 29 stands at 384 while
the number of recoveries stands at 129 with 15 fatalities.
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