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Kenya extends curbs as virus cases leap
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Kenyan school children wear face masks while walking to school as they resume in-class learning after a nine-month disruption caused by the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, in Nairobi on January 4, 2021. (AFP/Simon MAINA )
K
enya will extend a night curfew and other restrictions to counter an exponential rise in Covid-19 cases, the government said Wednesday.
The East African country has seen a spike in coronavirus cases because of unbridled mass gatherings and more people flouting health guidelines, President Uhuru Kenyatta said in a statement.
More than a third of Kenya's 47 counties had recorded a positivity rate of over 20 percent in the past week, the statement said.
Kenyatta said stringent measures were required to prevent the already strained public health system becoming completely overwhelmed.
"Recently evaluated reports have pointed to an exponential rise in infection rates across the several counties occasioned by unrestrained gatherings and congregations," he said.
The current nationwide curfew from 10 pm to four am will be extended by 60 days.
All public gatherings, including political rallies, are suspended while weddings and funeral will be capped at 100 attendees.
The country has been under some form of curfew since March last year when the pandemic first hit, but compliance has worn off in recent weeks.
With less than a year to go to a general election, politicians have been organising rallies drawing thousands of people, despite such events being banned.
In total, Kenya has recorded more than 224,000 cases and 4,378 deaths, according to government statistics.
