Kirinyaga bar owners urge President Kenyatta to lift COVID-19 restrictions

Kirinyaga bar owners are appealing to President Uhuru Kenyatta to lift restrictions on pub operating hours.

Also Read: Gov’t extends daily dusk-to-dawn curfew to March 12

Mr. Anthony Mucheke, Chairman of the Kirinyaga Bar Owners Association, said COVID-19 restrictions have ravaged their businesses.

“We are appealing to him because we know the President is scheduled to address the nation today (Friday) on the issues regarding the country’s COVID-19 status,” he said.

The bar owners are urging the Head of State to consider reducing curfew hours.

In January this year, Kenya extended its nightly curfew to March 12 as part of measures aimed at taming the spread of COVID-19.

The curfew runs between 10 p.m and 4 a.m.

When the first coronavirus cases were confirmed in Kenya in March 2020, the government closed schools, imposed a curfew, banned public gatherings and at one point restricted movement in and out of the most-affected regions.

Some of the measures were eventually relaxed, and schools fully reopened.

However, extracurricular school activities such as sports were banned for 90 days, as well as non-essential visits by parents and guardians, the president’s office said.

Like other countries around the world, Kenya’s tourism, education and other key sectors have been pummelled by the pandemic.

Its second-quarter economic output declined for the first time since the global financial crisis of 2008.

So far, Kenya has recorded a total of 111,185 coronavirus cases and 1,899 deaths, data from the Ministry of Health showed on March 11.