Council of Governors(CoG) are pushing for a gradual reopening of the economy to ease the amid hardships faced by households and businesses.
CoG chairperson Wycliffe Oparanya said all the 47 counties have put in place regulations to curb and slow down the spread of Covid-19.
“After consultations with my colleagues, we advise President Uhuru Kenyatta to gradually open the economy,” Mr Oparanya said.
President Uhuru Kenyatta on June 6 extended a ban on public gatherings for 30 days to curb the spread of the virus and also restricted entry and exit from Nairobi, Mombasa and Mandera.
The covid-19 pandemic has ravaged the economy since it broke out in March, reducing demand for goods and services across all sectors because of the restrictions on travel, movement, night curfews and closure of schools and suspension of social gatherings.
President Kenyatta said the reopening of the economy will depend on the level of preparedness by counties to respond to Covid-19 infections. The restrictions will be reviewed the restrictions on Monday when the president is expected to address the nation.
In a report by the county bosses last week, devolved units have attained a total of 6,898 isolation beds, against the national target of 30,500 units.
Only 12 counties had met the minimum requirement of 300 isolation beds while 34 were still struggling to meet the target.
Governor Oparanya also reported that 16,914 health workers had been trained on Covid-19 management including 59,449 community health volunteers.
The report further said that 36 counties have a cumulative sum of 343 ICU beds and 28 counties have 337 ventilators.
“Through your directive that allowed county governments to procure non-pharmaceuticals from other agencies, counties have enhanced their response measures,” Mr Oparanya added.
The remarks by Mr Oparanya who is also the Kakamega governor indicate that most of the concerns have been addressed.
Apart from ravaging the economy, covid-19 pandemic has pushed the health sector to strain and implement home-based isolation and care for asymptomatic Covid-19 positive cases.
The high anticipation of full resumption of activities come as the country crossed the 6,000 mark and recorded the highest daily new cases of 307 Tuesday.
Number of positive cases in Kenya now stand at 6,673 and 149 deaths.
Private sector remains the hardest hit as companies began announcing lay offs in April adding to about 771,439 youths losing their jobs.
Kenya Private Sector Alliance (Kepsa) has reported that construction, agriculture and fisheries, security, sports, art and creative and tourism sectors have been worst hit.
The GDP data released by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, show that the economic growth has slowed by 4.9% in the first three months to March from 5.5 % in 2019 and it is still expected to drop deeper in the second quarter.
