Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe on Tuesday, April 7 announced that the government would not hesitate to shut down supermarkets found not complying with directives on Covid-19.
At the ministry's daily press briefing, Kagwe disclosed that the ministry had dispatched a team of officers to visit various supermarkets and inspect their compliance with the directives.
Among other things, the management teams of supermarkets have been ordered to ensure they do not serve customers without protective masks, in line with an announcement by President Uhuru Kenyatta on Monday, April 6 that everyone must wear a protective mask while visiting public areas.
Supermarkets were also directed to ensure they provide hand-washing stations at the entrances to their premises.
“We have health officers on the ground and if we get reports of supermarkets serving customers who are not in masks, we will not hesitate to close them,” Kagwe asserted.
Kagwe announced that they would work closely with county governments to provide citizens with masks where possible and necessary.
He further sought to assure medical workers who had raised complaints about a lack of adequate protective equipment that the government would ensure they were provided with the same before being potentially exposed to the virus in their places of work.
"In line with President Uhuru’s directive on masks, Kenyans must make efforts to get masks and wear them in public places, we will provide them for free where necessary for example through counties.
“This is not a government war, everyone must join the fight and play his or her role to ensure we win it or else we will be in for a tough time,” he stated.
The government had earlier tasked local producers with manufacturing the protective masks to stem anticipated shortages in the availability of the product.
"Having received advice from our medical professionals and experts, we now tell Kenyans to wear masks while in public places.
“I know that there will be thousands of tailors from all over the country who will also look to make these masks and we encourage them to do so,” Uhuru stated on Monday, April 6.
Watch a video of Kagwe addressing supermarkets below:
