President Uhuru Kenyatta has ordered the establishment of a National Emergency Response Committee on the coronavirus, following the rapid spread of the disease globally. In an executive order issued on Friday, President Kenyatta also ordered that the national isolation and treatment facility in Mbagathi be completed and ready to receive patients in seven days. He noted that the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak a public health emergency of international concern, and that the Kenyan government has taken the necessary steps to strengthen the response mechanisms to the outbreak.
The Cabinet’s Ad Hoc committee on health and inter-ministerial technical committee on government response to the coronavirus has been dissolved as a result. The National Emergency Response Committee will be led by the Health CS and will include other four Cabinet Secretaries, Principal Secretaries from different Ministries, Directors of parastatals among other top officials.
Earlier on Friday, the High Court temporarily suspended all flights from China, after the LSK sought orders barring the government from allowing flights from China which is the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak.