President Uhuru Kenyatta |
The government
of Kenya will lift Intercounty lockdown in a couple of days, President Uhuru
Kenyatta has said.
Uhuru
said once the lockdown is lifted, the government will allow domestic flights.
The
president spoke during a virtual leader’s forum on US-Africa trade convened by
the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) on Sunday.
"We
are going to start domestic flights and this is what we are going to use as our
trial over the next couple of days because we are opening up the lockdown of
intercounties," he said.
Uhuru
said this is what going to set the pace to opening up the skies in readiness
for international flights.
"If
you don't take precautions, opening up too quickly also has its downside. We are
eager to open up but also eager to stay safe and healthy. We are doing
everything to ensure we are back in the sky," he added.
While
acknowledging that Covid-19 response measures had helped save lives, Uhuru
noted that the interventions have led to negative economic effects.
He said
the informal sector, tourism and the hotel industry suffered the heaviest
burden adding, that his administration had put in place measures to cushion
vulnerable communities and businesses from the adverse effects of the pandemic.
The
lockdown which was extended on 6th June 2020 for a further 30 days elapses on
6th July 2020.
The
National Emergency Response Committee will this week either ease the current
measures or tighten to extend them.
This is
because the period given to the counties by the President to set up a 300-bed
capacity isolation centres is fast coming to an end.
As of
Thursday, only 12 counties had met the requirement, with the rest of the
counties still racing against time to achieve the target.
The country surpassed the 6,000 caseload on Sunday after 259 new coronavirus cases were reported.
The number of positive cases now stands at 6,070. – The Star
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