A general lockdown will not be of any use at the moment — Dr Githinji Gitahi

Amref Health Africa CEO Dr Githinji Gitahi on Monday stated that there is no point of a lockdown at the moment unless it is done for a particular purpose.

Speaking during an interview on Citizen TV, Dr Gitahi stated that lockdowns are done for a purpose and not necessarily to get rid of a virus.

“Lockdowns are done so that you can prepare or reduce the rate of transmission in a particular area.

“We have a certain level of preparedness at the moment…a general lock-down now would not be of any use at all unless it is being done for a particular purpose,” he said.

Asked about the possibility of locking down the country as we await the vaccine, Dr Gitahi said vaccines have to go through various phases before they are used and that means it may get to Kenya even after a year.

“What you are seeing is just phase one trial…I think vaccines have to go through multiple phases for them to even say they are free to be used. Whatever you are seeing are early promising results.

“I do not think there will be any approvals of this vaccine until next year,” he said.

With the relaxing of Covid-19 measures, in the past few weeks, Kenya has witnessed a surge in the number of positive cases recorded.

The cases are expected to rise exponentially in coming days after travel restrictions were lifted. 

This has prompted President Uhuru Kenyatta to summon an emergency meeting of top officials and governors to review the rising cases of Covid-19. 

The President has set the Fifth Extraordinary Session of the National and County Governments Coordinating Summit for this Friday on the back of a surge in infections and deaths.