Wear Masks And Get Vaccinated; Government Orders

The government has reinstated the requirement to wear face masks indoors as a containment measure to help stop or prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the country.

Mutahi Kagwe, the Health Cabinet Secretary, told the media on Monday that members of the public will be required to wear face masks in confined spaces such as PSVs, aircraft, offices, supermarkets, and places of worship.

“We have seen situations like in political indoor meetings where we are seeing super spreading of COVID-19… we also require worshippers to wear face masks when inside places of worship,” said Kagwe.

The CS also urged Kenyans who have not been immunized to do so immediately.

“Those who have not been vaccinated should do so immediately. Those who have been vaccinated and need a booster shot should do so immediately,” said Kagwe.

He also stated that all unvaccinated travelers arriving in Kenya at any port of entry will be required to have a negative PCR test result obtained no more than 72 hours before departure.

Kenya is currently fighting the sixth wave of COVID-19.

The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a new report on COVID-19 last week, categorizing Kenya as one of the countries experiencing the sixth wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

Following the recent surge in cases, Kenya and Mauritius are the only two nations classified in the said category among the 54 African Union (AU) member states, according to a report released on Thursday.

“Two member States (Kenya and Mauritius) experienced a 6th COVID-19 wave. Since the last briefing, One additional member State (Kenya) is experiencing the 6th wave,” stated Africa CDC.

On Sunday, the country’s COVID-19 positivity rate was 9.9% after 246 people tested positive from a sample size of 2,484 people tested in the last 24 hours.