NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 28 – A national conference on COVID-19 kicked off in the capital, Nairobi Monday, presided over by President Uhuru Kenyatta.
The conference, held at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre, was attended by Cabinet Secretaries, senior government officials as well as stakeholders, who included the clergy.
“The primary purpose here is to look at lessons learnt as well as best practices but fundamentally ask ourselves whether we organized our resources in the most optimal way and whether we have mechanisms of ploughing back lessons learnt in future undertakings,” Kenyatta said in his opening remarks.
The National COVID-19 conference was organised to take stock of the government’s response to the pandemic and advise on new measures.
In his opening remarks, the Head of State urged the conference participants to take stock of all the measures taken since March when the first case was confirmed in the country, so as to determine the way forward
He called on all Kenyans to be realistic and keenly evaluate the measures put in place and see if they are effective in controlling the spread of COVID-19
Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe urged Kenyans to embrace the new normal because the virus will be around for long.
“It has been hard work and it continues to be hard work,” Kagwe said, “let us all work together for the containment measures to succeed.”.
The conference comes in the wake of high expectations from Kenyans that some of the restrictions to prevent the spread of coronavirus will be lifted to pave way for a full resumption of the economy.
The conference was organised so as to advise the government on whether the partial lockdown should be lifted. This includes the night curfew.
It will also advise whether schools and bars should be opened as well as decide the fate of large gatherings which were banned since March even though politicians continue to defy it.
By September 27, Kenya had recorded 38,115 coronavirus infections with 691 fatalities and 24,621 recoveries.
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