Governors have been told that the level of preparedness to handle Coronavirus infections in the Counties will determine if the country will be reopened or not. Speaking during a virtual meeting of the national and County governments coordinating summit on Thursday, President Uhuru Kenyatta said the nation is the sum of 47 Counties, “If the Counties have met the necessary thresholds, then the nation will be ready to re-open,” he said.
Counties had been directed to ensure they each have 300 isolation beds as the national government scales up preparedness measures. In the last meeting that brought together Governors and national government officials led by President Uhuru Kenyatta at State House two weeks ago, the President had issued a rallying call for the devolved units, saying the war against Covid-19 calls for coordinated efforts from the Counties up to the national government.
Speaking during the virtual meeting, Health CS Mutahi Kagwe warned against reopening of the economy before the preparedness threshold is met, coupled with the fact that cases are still on the rise. He said nations which had reopened earlier when proper Coronavirus maintenance mechanisms hadn’t been put in lace experienced new waves of infections.