Kenyan health experts have dismissed the move by the government to extend the nationwide dusk to dawn curfew for the next one month.
Announcing the extension on Monday, Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe said the period will enable more people to be vaccinated against the Covid-19.
Kagwe said the decision was arrived at after consulting the National Emergency Response Committee and the President.
“We’re going to extend the duration by 30 days so that we can vaccinate as many individuals as possible during that time.” As we approach the Christmas holidays, we need to make sure that as many people as possible in our country get vaccinated,” Kagwe stated.
However, Global health expert Bernard Muia faulted the move citing political gatherings and social events as the super-spreaders of the virus.
“We’re in the midst of testing, so based on clinical experience, the conditions have greatly improved, and I’d want to see the system open up the economy. The sample size and sampling procedures do not support the statistical significance of the curfew,” he said, noting if lifting it is a big issue, it can be extended to 11 pm.
Curfew runs from 10 pm- 4 am.
According to Chief consultant pathologist Ahmed Kalebi, the extension is not in line with the epidemiological trend in daily caseload, test, percentage positivity, and hospitalization data.
“With only 900,0000 people fully vaccinated, 2.9 million people receiving their first dose, and less than three million doses available in the country, Kenya can have close to three million adults fully vaccinated by the end of October,” Dr. Kalebi said.
Curfew was imposed in March 2020 when the country reported the first case of Covid-19.
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