President Uhuru reschedules crucial meeting with Council of Governors

President Uhuru Kenyatta has postponed the 5th Extra-Ordinary Session of the National and County Governments Co-ordinating Summit to review the surge of COVID-19 infections in the country from Friday, July 24 to Monday, July 27,

The State House announced on Wednesday that the rescheduling was requested by the Council of Governors.

The extraordinary summit will seek to assess the country’s preparedness for COVID-19 and review containment measures in the wake of surging coronavirus cases in the country.

On July 6, President Kenyatta eased some COVID-19 containment measures, among them the cessation of movement in and out of the Nairobi Metropolitan area and in Mombasa and Mandera counties.

The president however warned of the possibility of reverting to a lock down should the spread of the virus pose a threat to the health infrastructure.

“In the next 21 days we shall study patterns of interaction and spread of the disease. Any trends that signal a worsening of the pandemic, we shall have no choice but to return to lock down at zero option,” said President Kenyatta.

The meeting on Friday will review the efficacy of the containment measures in place and review the impact of the phased easing of the restrictions that were in place.

Since the restrictions were eased, Kenya has seen a significant rise in the number of cases reported daily.

Kenya reported 688 cases of the new coronavirus on Saturday- the highest number in a single day- and 603 new cases on Sunday, July 19.

Experts at the ministry of health have warned that coronavirus cases in Kenya are expected to peak between August and September.

On Monday, during the daily COVID-19 briefing, Health CAS Dr. Rashid Aman noted the spike of cases in the last one week was a cause of concern.

44 out of the 47counties have confirmed COVID-19 cases with Baringo,West pokot and Samburu the only ones still to report  case

The meeting will also assess the Counties’ state preparedness. Counties failed to achieve the 30,500 isolation bed capacity set before restrictions were eased. Each county was expected to have at least 300 isolation beds for COVID-19 cases.