[Additional reporting by Njoki Kihiu in Nairobi]
NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 9 – Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha has called on Kenyans to ditch burial traditions and embrace COVID-19 protocols issued by the Ministry of Health.
This follows outcry from most Kenyan communities opposed to public health regulations that require families to bury their kin under strict protocols, mostly within a day or two.
In some communities, the tradition require that bodies are taken home for an overnight stay.
“We must change the way we bury our dead,” Magoha said, “God says let the dead bury themselves but Kenyans will say that let us bury our people. All this insistence of having bodies overnight, can we agree that it is time bad and that we should bury according to protocols provided to us.”
Magoha spoke in Kisumu on Sunday, when he accompanied his Health counterpart Mutahi Kagwe to assess the county’s preparedness in handling the surging COVID-19 cases.
“And when it comes to actual burial, can we also agree that only immediate family members should attend. You can see the bereaved from 1.5 metres,” Magoha said.
On Sunday, Kenya recorded 599 new cases of COVID-19 and two deaths, raising the total cases so far to 26,436.
Kagwe said the death toll stood at 420.
“Let us continue observing the Ministry of Health protocols to ensure we flatten the curve,” CS Kagwe said, “we have 599 new cases and the total is 26,436.” The new cases announced Sunday were detected from 4,420 samples.
To be updated…..
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