Kenya Extends Covid Restrictions For 60 Days to Curb Infections

The Kenyan government on Wednesday extended all existing Covid restrictions for another 60 days.

The government has imposed extensive curbs, in addition to measures like 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. night curfew to check the spread of the infection.

All public gatherings, including political meetings, remain suspended, while attendance at weddings and funerals is still limited to 100 people.

“These interventions have been escalated, and de-escalated, based on feedback reports on infection rates, analysis of health system capacities, economic impact reports,” Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta said.

“The recently evaluated reports have pointed to an exponential rise in infection rates across several counties, occasioned by unrestrained gatherings and congregations, in breach of guidelines as issued by the Ministry of Health.”

On Thursday, the country’s positivity rate was 15.3 per cent, with total confirmed positive cases at 224,400 and cumulative tests so far conducted at 2,278,763.

Kenya authorizes Sinopharm vaccine

A total of 2,154,825 vaccines have so far been administered across the country. Of these, the total first doses are 1,393,905 while the second doses are 760,920.

The uptake of the second dose among those who received their first dose is at 54.6 per cent with the majority being males at 55 per cent while females are at 45 per cent.  The proportion of adults fully vaccinated is 2.8 per cent.

The Ministry of Health has further approved the Chinese developed Sinopharm vaccine for emergency use.

Other vaccines that have been allowed in the country include AstraZeneca, John and Johnson, Pfizer, and Moderna doses. 

The Sinopharm vaccine is produced by Beijing Bio-Institute of Biological Products Co Ltd, a subsidiary of China National Biotec Group (CNBG).