Coronavirus: Media Council calls for cancellation of live press conferences

The Media Council of Kenya has asked media stakeholders to call off live press conferences to keep journalists safe and avert the spread of the coronavirus.

In statement sent out to media houses, MCK said it had already met with the office of the Government Spokesperson and made recommendations on media safety and practice as regards to the coverage of corona virus.

MCK called on the suspension of all live coverage of Press Conferences as currently constituted in compliance with the Ministry of Health (MoH) and Department of Occupational Safety & Health guidelines on containment of COVID-19.

This is particularly critical in preventing the congregation of a large number of journalists and media practitioners in one location.

With the suspension of live coverage, MCK has asked the national government to provide live links to media houses for public communication.

The government will also be tasked with enabling questions and answers through the same live feed.

Media houses have been asked to cooperate with the arrangements for their safety in view of the risk of infections from crowded areas.

Additionally, the national government has been tasked with offering additional official information other than adverts to help media houses disseminate the same in various formats and languages.

This comes just days after several media houses across the world reported cases of the coronavirus infections among their staff.

A reporter from ABC news, a CBS news correspondent tested positive for the coronavirus early Wednesday.