Government in Kenya has set in motion the resumption of churches, mosques in the next three weeks.
Addressing the nation on a Televised address on Monday, President Uhuru Kenyatta revealed that gov’t is planning to ease lockdown on places of worship but called for maintenance of set guidelines.
“In line with the guidelines issued by the Inter-Faith Council, only a maximum of one hundred (100) participants will be allowed at each worship ceremony and not more than one hour. Sunday Schools and Madrassas shall remain suspended until further notice, and in-person worship shall not include congregants under the age of thirteen (13) years or above the age of 58 years or persons with underlying conditions,” said Kenyatta.
Officials from the ministry of Education were also given up to today to release the schools calenders and prepare on reopening schools within the guidelines.
He said govt will lift lockdown on international flights and internal movements which have affected key economies in the country such as the tourism sector.
President Kenyatta set August 1st for international flights to resume operations while local air travels had been scheduled for July15th.
He also announced the lifting of a ban of movement in and out of the capital, Nairobi, the port city of Mombasa and northeastern Mandera.
“Today I order and direct that the cessation of movement into and out of the Nairobi metropolitan area, Mombasa county and Mandera county that is currently enforced shall lapse today or at 4am (01:00 GMT) tomorrow, Tuesday, the 7th of July 2020,” said Kenyatta.
Churches, mosques, Schools, bars and Airports in Kenya have been under lockdown as a mean of combating the spread of novel corona virus pandemic. This according to economic experts has devastated productive industries in the country.
The ongoing nationwide curfew between 9pm and 4am was extended for more 30 days but warned he would not hesitate to “revert to lockdown” if the situation worsened. Lockdown for Bars, night clubs was retained in place .
He argued that the next 21 days are to be used to studying patterns of interactions and the spread of the disease through which conditions shall determine on if / not to revert the lockdown.
Kenya has confirmed nearly 7,900 cases of the coronavirus as of Monday, with 160 deaths with the highest official figures of fatalities in East Africa.
