The Kenyan government recently announced that it had begun relaxing Covid -19 rules by allowing restaurants and eateries to reopen but with strict rules. One of those is a mandatory fee that restaurant owners will have to pay of between Sh2,000 to Sh4,000 for each member of their staff for mandatory COVID-19 tests before re-opening.
The National Emergency Response Committee (NERC) on Coronavirus approved the guidelines for a partial reopening of eateries and restaurants on April 28. Some of the other strict terms include mandatory checks of diners’ body temperatures and restricting access to those showing signs of fever.
“We have now said that for this purpose government hospitals will not offer the services and charge Sh2,000 to Sh4,000 depending on which government facility one goes to,” the Health CS Mutahi Kagwe stated.
The CS told the told Parliament’s Committee on Delegated Legislation that the decision to reopen restaurants was taken to mitigate against adverse economic effects.
“If we can create a situation in restaurants where we can mitigate the disease spread, why then would we not allow people to open them? While it is not convenient, or the perfect situation to have, but it is some way, even if you create 10 jobs or return 10 jobs that is something,” he explained.
