The Covid-19 National Emergency Response Committee (NERC) has earmarked five counties for a possible lockdown in an attempt to contain the sudden spike in Covid-19 cases in the country.
The five counties include Nairobi, Mombasa, Kericho, Nakuru and Turkana, which have been identified as Covid-19 hotspots.
There are ongoing discussions among stakeholders to mitigate the situation and prevent the pandemic from overrunning healthcare facilities particularly in rural areas that are ill-equipped to deal with Covid-19.
A source privy to the discussions revealed that the government is mulling on the possibility of locking down Nairobi and Mombasa among other affected counties.
"Experts are convinced that Nakuru, Turkana and Kericho must be placed on stricter measures, while they are still debating on whether to have Nairobi and Mombasa back on lockdown," the source told Daily Nation.
A decision on whether to lock down the five counties is set to be arrived at after the Covid-19 NERC meeting on Thursday, October 22.
The committee also met on Sunday with Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe chairing the meeting to discuss the new restrictions set to be enforced to prevent a second wave of the virus.
Chairman of the Council of Governors, Wycliffe Oparanya, on Monday, asked the Health Ministry to draft tight measures to curb the spike in Covid-19 cases.
The Kakamega Governor also asked the government to punish politicians holding public gatherings which have been termed as a weak link in the fight against the deadly virus.
"The government needs to come up with serious measures to ensure that politicians holding political meetings are checked because they have contributed to the spread of the virus," noted Oparanya.
The governors have scheduled a meeting on Thursday and Friday in Mombasa to deliberate on the challenges the counties are facing in the Covid-19 fight and come up with recommendations.
This comes after the country recorded a spike in Covid-19 cases in the past week with the positivity rate tripping to 12%.
