From tonight at 7 p.m. Kenya is closed indoors until 5 a.m. and it will be so for all the nights to follow, until the Government decides that the emergency is over. There is, of course, also the assumption that this evening and night curfew will turn into a total lockdown, should the emergency situation escalate.
On the day when the country mourns its first death, and it is worth remembering it "with" Covid19 and not only "for" Covid19 (the patient admitted yesterday afternoon, a Kenyan citizen aged 66, already had a confirmed diabetes that had undermined his health) and has 31 positives, of which only one, a French tourist, is in serious condition, President Uhuru Kenyatta has decided to test its citizens and not only to avoid contagion (for that it takes a test of maturity that, for culture degree of education, fragmentation on the territory the African State may not assimilate quickly) but also for a matter of national security.
The police forces, supported by the army, will be deputed to control the application of the curfew and possibly make arrests and impose fines.
It is hoped for a serious response from citizens, even those too often considered "second class" by the same politicians who have followed one another upstairs and in Nairobi's button rooms.
In Italy, given at hand, in the period of total closure, crimes have dropped by 75%. A sign that even criminals fear for their fate. In Kenya the situation is very different, the art of making do and living by the day could prevail over a ghost element, so little tangible as a virus.
For this reason from tonight the country faces a very important test, as well as unpublished, whose scenarios and outcomes may be different.
Moreover, the curfew risks bringing to its knees other sectors that for the time being have only suffered restrictions, first of all the transport sector, risking to provoke failures in the delivery of products and fundamental elements such as petrol. This was already the case during the post-electoral chaos of 2008.
The hope is that preventive measures like this one, which started long before in other countries, can have a tangible outcome and reduce the emergency time and the deflagging power of Covid19.
Here is the list of those excluded from the curfew:
Medical professionals and health care workers

National security officers, administration and coordination

Public health and hygiene officials in county governments

Authorized pharmacies and pharmacies

Issuers and authorized media houses

Kenya Power Ltd

Food retailers, distributors, wholesalers and transporters of agricultural products

Licensed supermarkets, mini-markets and hypermarkets

Authorised distributors and retailers of petroleum and petroleum products and lubricants

Authorised telecommunications operators and service providers

Authorised banks, financial institutions and payment services

Firefighters and other emergency services

Authorised security companies