Kenyans face fresh Covid-19 controls

As of Friday, Covid has 19 cases and 5,333 deaths, with a positive rate of 0.5 percent. It has not made the new viral strain public knowledge.
Analysts were on the lookout for evidence that the Omicron variety could jeopardize additional lives or cause economic disruption in Kenya yesterday.
Mr Kunal Ajmera, chief operating officer of consultancy firm Grant Thornton, stated, “A huge push for vaccines will undoubtedly be on the cards.”

“A shutdown or limitation on people’s movement is unlikely in the near future because we simply cannot afford to suffocate an economy that is just getting started.”

Kenya wants to vaccinate 27.2 million adult Kenyans by the end of June next year, including at least 10 million by Christmas. Adults who have been fully vaccinated currently account for 9.8% of the population, or 2.65 million people.

Kenya announced new lockdown measures on March 26 to combat the Covid-19 outbreak, including travel restrictions in Nairobi and four adjacent regions.

Many of the restrictions have now been lifted.

According to the WHO scientific brief released Monday, the overall worldwide risk associated with the novel Omicron type “is regarded as very high.”

“The likelihood of potential additional spread of Omicron at the global level is considerable,” according to the WHO brief, depending on how transmissible the variation is and whether it can escape immunity.

Kenya’s economic recovery has begun, but there are concerns that a shortage of Covid-19 vaccinations and new waves of diseases will slow it down.

Last year, as a result of the pandemic’s impact on crucial sectors including as tourism, economic output fell for the first time in nearly three decades.

Growth in the Covid knocks was negative 0.3 percent last year, down from 5.0 percent in 2019.

As businesses battled with dwindling sales as a result of the limitations, this period saw layoffs and wage cuts.

To boost the Astrazeneca vaccines, Kenya has been procuring doses of vaccines from Pfizer and Johnson and Johnson.

Allowing the Omicron coronavirus variety to circulate unchecked raises the possibility of hazardous new strains emerging, and countries all around the world are hurrying to enact travel bans to stop it.