Restaurants can now sigh with relief after the Ministry of Health extended their business operation hours to 7:30pm. Making the announcement, Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe said the restaurants must however demonstrate stringent COVID 19 health regulations prior and during the opening of the establishments. Also relaxed are the protocols requiring a are-test by the hotel workers after 14 days of first testing. Kagwe has insisted that the restaurants will only be allowed to open after testing staff with those operators flouting the public health guidelines and regulations having licences’s being revoked.
Meanwhile, 133 people have tested positive for the deadly virus for the second day today. All the cases are Kenyans, 88 of them males. 86 of the new cases are from Nairobi , Mombasa has 27 cases, Kiambu 7, Busia 5, Muranga, Kilifi , Kajiado and Migori have 2 cases each, which Machakos and Muranga have one case each.
The Nairobi cases are mostly from Westlands and Embakasi, while the Mombasa cases are from Mvita, Kisauni and Nyali.
Meanwhile, 40 patients have been discharged in the last 24 hours, bringing to 1,326 the total number of recoveries. One more patient has however succumbed to the virus, bringing the total number of fatalities to 105.
CS Kagwe also sent a warning to Kenyans who are breaking the directive on cessation of Movements in and out of Nairobi saying they might transmit the novel coronavirus to other parts of the country.
Despite tough containment measures put in place include the night curfew that starts at 9pm to 4 am, and cessation of movement in counties which have recorded high infections. The Covid-19 cases have been on a sharp increase in the country lately.
Meanwhile, Health CS Mutahi Kagwe, while acknowledging the Day of the African Child, called for care of children to prevent disease.The Day of the African Child has been celebrated on June 16 every year since 1991, when it was first initiated by the Organisation of African Unity.
While weighing in on the welfare of children, the head of preventive Health Dr Pacifica Onyancha said mothers with Covid-19 can breastfeed, so long as they wear masks. She stated that the mothers should let the child be attended to by someone else once breastfeeding is completed.
She also reminded parents and guardians with children under the age of two not to make toddlers wear masks, lest they suffocate. Onyancha also said that children under the age of five should not wear masks when in vehicles, lest they fall asleep and suffocate.