Kenya Imposes Nairobi Lockdown, To Contain COVID-19 Third Wave

Kenya imposed stringent new restrictions in the capital,
Nairobi, and in four other counties, fighting a deadly third wave
of Covid-19 infections that has placed its fragile health system
under devastating pressure.

In a televised address on Friday, President Uhuru Kenyatta said
that a tenfold increase in infection rates since January, coupled
with a 52 percent increase in hospital admissions this month,
called for “drastic measures.”

“Kenya is now squarely in the grip of a third wave of this
pandemic,” he said.

Several variants have been identified in Kenya, but some were
found among travelers, and there is little data to suggest how
prevalent they may be or what role they might be playing in the
East African nation’s surge. They include B.1.1.7, the more
transmissible and possibly more lethal variant first identified in
Britain; B.1.351, a variant first found in South Africa that may
bypass the protection afforded by current vaccines; and A.23.1, a
variant that is now dominant in Kenya’s neighbor Uganda and nearby
Rwanda.

As of midnight, Mr. Kenyatta said, all gatherings are banned in
Nairobi and four adjoining counties, which make up a single
infection zone. Travel is prohibited in and out of the restricted
area, where bars, restaurants and places of worship will close, and
a nightly 10 p.m. curfew moves to 8 p.m. However, Nairobi’s
international airport will remain open.

In the rest of Kenya, sporting activities are suspended, and
schools and universities will close until further notice.

The curbs came a week before the Easter holiday when many
Kenyans pile into crowded buses to return to their family homes in
rural areas.

A vaccination program that started in March raised hopes for an
end of the pandemic, which has devastated the country’s
tourism-dependent economy. One small bright spot in the tourism
downturn has been an influx of wealthy Europeans hoping to ride out
the pandemic in upmarket resorts along Kenya’s coast.

But the soaring rate of infections and deaths has forced the
country into a painful new lockdown, Mr. Kenyatta said. As of
Thursday, Kenya reported a total of 126,170 cases and 2,092 deaths.
The positive test rate hit 22 percent this week, compared with 2
percent in January, he said.

Kenya imposed stringent new restrictions in the capital,
Nairobi, and in four other counties, fighting a deadly third wave
of Covid-19 infections that has placed its fragile health system
under devastating pressure.

In a televised address on Friday, President Uhuru Kenyatta said
that a tenfold increase in infection rates since January, coupled
with a 52 percent increase in hospital admissions this month,
called for “drastic measures.”

“Kenya is now squarely in the grip of a third wave of this
pandemic,” he said.

Several variants have been identified in Kenya, but some were
found among travelers, and there is little data to suggest how
prevalent they may be or what role they might be playing in the
East African nation’s surge. They include B.1.1.7, the more
transmissible and possibly more lethal variant first identified in
Britain; B.1.351, a variant first found in South Africa that may
bypass the protection afforded by current vaccines; and A.23.1, a
variant that is now dominant in Kenya’s neighbor Uganda and nearby
Rwanda.

As of midnight, Mr. Kenyatta said, all gatherings are banned in
Nairobi and four adjoining counties, which make up a single
infection zone. Travel is prohibited in and out of the restricted
area, where bars, restaurants and places of worship will close, and
a nightly 10 p.m. curfew moves to 8 p.m. However, Nairobi’s
international airport will remain open.

In the rest of Kenya, sporting activities are suspended, and
schools and universities will close until further notice.

The curbs came a week before the Easter holiday when many
Kenyans pile into crowded buses to return to their family homes in
rural areas.

A vaccination program that started in March raised hopes for an
end of the pandemic, which has devastated the country’s
tourism-dependent economy. One small bright spot in the tourism
downturn has been an influx of wealthy Europeans hoping to ride out
the pandemic in upmarket resorts along Kenya’s coast.

But the soaring rate of infections and deaths has forced the
country into a painful new lockdown, Mr. Kenyatta said. As of
Thursday, Kenya reported a total of 126,170 cases and 2,092 deaths.
The positive test rate hit 22 percent this week, compared with 2
percent in January, he said.