Mandatory wearing of masks in public has been lifted, Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe has announced.
“There has been a lot of debate on facemasks. Wearing of facemasks in open places is now lifted,” he announced.
This follows the latest report by the ministry of health which indicates that there are 323, 140 cases of Covid-19 and 5,644 deaths but the inoculation rate remains low, with only 28.5 percent of the adult population fully vaccinated as of March 10, 2022.
The CS, however, while addressing a press conference on Friday, called upon Kenyans to continue wearing face masks during indoor meetings as well as social distancing and avoid overcrowding.
“Nonetheless, people are advised to maintain social distancing and avoid crowding in public spaces to ensure the risk of spread is limited. We, however, encourage the use of face masks in all indoor functions.”
Kagwe said, Kenyans should be strict with the ministry of health protocols of sanitization when in places that are not open.
“If you are going to eat in a meat joint, the standards must be high. The sanitation, washing of hands must be top-notch,” he said.
“You must respect the people eating in your joint. You must respect your customers and make sure it is clean. There will be penalties if that does not happen.”
Kagwe further directed that all worship places should have a full capacity provided the congregants are vaccinated.
He stated that all quarantine of both the vaccinated and unvaccinated persons is to be stopped with immediate effect.
He added that positive asymptomatic cases need not be isolated but just be observed for five days then allowed to return to work without the need for further testing.
All PSVs, trains, and domestic air freight services will resume at full capacity, however, the operators and staff must be fully vaccinated while all travelers should have face masks at all times during travel.
“All passenger service vehicles, train, and domestic air flying services may resume at full capacity. However, they must ensure that their staff is fully vaccinated and all travelers have their face masks on at all times during the travel,” said Kagwe.
Nationwide mask mandate was imposed by the Ministry of Health on April 3, 2020, at the height of Covid-19 infections.