UPDATE: Deputy President William Ruto on Friday, March 13, asked Kenyans to be cautious following the confirmation of a coronavirus case in the country.
Speaking from Nandi County where he launched the construction of Chapterwai Hospital Complex, he called upon Kenyans to follow the directions given by the government in order to curtail its spread.
“We appreciate that coronavirus is an international problem. We must play our respective parts as advised by the ministry of health,” the DP stated.
ODM leader Raila Odinga on Friday, March 13, urged Kenyans to cooperate with the government after the first coronavirus case was confirmed in Kenya.
In a statement, Raila cited that the government had factual and science-based advice on how the country must proceed, hence, urging Kenyans not to panic.
"A raft of measures has been announced by the government, including the suspension of inter-school events, prison visits, church crusades and all other public gatherings.
"These measures will definitely cause disruptions across our country. But we must adhere to them as the best scientific advice that we can rely on to overcome the danger," Raila stated.
Additionally, the ODM leader stated that the confirmation and the systematic disclosure of information indicated the existence of a clear plan by the government to provide citizens and visitors with timely and accurate information on the evolving situation.
"We are pleased with the whole-of-government approach to handling the threat and protecting the health of Kenyans. We further appreciate that the government is leveraging all of our resources to respond to the threat," read an excerpt from the statement.
The ban of all public activities would mean that all BBI rallies would be cancelled as well.
In previous BBI rallies across other counties, the ODM leader has been at the forefront of the functions.
In his press briefing earlier in the day, Health CS Mutahi Kagwe stated that all public activities would be banned and no exception would be made.
"The decision has been made to ban all public rallies, there is no exception.
"We have suspended all public activities, meetings, religious crusades, games and all events that are of a huge public measure. Normal church services can go on provided that they provide sanitising and hand washing as people go into the worshipping areas. We have also suspended all inter-school events but schools remain open," Mutahi declared.
