President Uhuru Kenyatta has suspended resumption of remaining classes. The head of state has announced that all basic education will resume learning in January 2021.
“With respect to the Examination Classes that have already resumed learning, I hereby order that they continue with their learning and examination preparations under heightened health safety measures; with all other basic learning classes resuming in-person learning in January 2021.” President Kenyatta stated.
To foster the State’s preparedness towards the reopening of all other classes in learning institutions, the president urged Members of Parliament to engage their respective NG-CDF Boards with a view of finding ways to augment the existing interventions that are geared towards reopening.
“I urge them to make investments that focus on additional handwashing points, face masks, general sanitation and physical distancing of students and teachers.”
This comes even as Voi Primary School got closed on Thursday as 3 teachers tested positive for the virus. 27 others were put under quarantine as they wait to be tested. This week also the highest number of covid-19 cases in school was reported in Kenya. Kolanya Boys Secondary School reported 60 cases of the virus a situation that turned the institution into quarantine facility.
In Siaya County, 15 cases were identified whereby 12 students and three teachers tested positive for the virus. Maranda High School identified 11 cases as Nyamninia Secondary, Siaya Township and Central primary school in Alego-Usoga reported few cases.
Kimilili Boys High School and Friends School Kamusinga revealed a total of 17 Covid-19 cases. On the 29th of October, Education PS announced that a total of 50 students from 35 schools had contracted the virus. This number has however changed since more new cases have been reported since then.
Death cases have also been reported since the resumption of class 8, Grade 4 and form 4 learners in October. Tononoka Secondary school and Olmaria High School in Mogotio have lost teachers due to the pandemic.
“October has been recorded as the most tragic month in our fight against COVID. Now we are staring at a new wave of this pandemic. And the question is, where did we go wrong? What could we have done differently?” President Kenyatta posed.
COVID positivity rate has shot up from 4% in September to an average of 16% in October. This is 4 times what the rate was in September. In October only, Kenya reported over 15,000 new cases of Corona infections and approximately 300 deaths according to the National Multi-Agency Command Centre on COVID- 19.
