Coronavirus cases remain at 31 as curfew starts tonight

  Confirmed coronavirus cases in the country still stand at 31, Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe has said.   In the last 24 hours, some 156 samples have been tested and all are negative for the disease.   The hotspot counties listed by the CS are Nairobi, leading with 21 cases, Kajiado, Mombasa, Kilifi and Kwale.   Some 1,067 people have so far been traced and 136 discharged after completing the 14-day followup.   According to Kagwe, some 931 close contacts are being monitored and five admitted at Mbagathi District Hospital waiting for test results.   The countrywide curfew, which starts tonight, prohibits public gatherings, processions or movements during the mentioned hours.   Those who violate the directive risk being arrested and charged.   Only 20 essential service providers are exempt. They include national security officers, medical professionals and media practitioners.   Starting Sunday, there will be mass testing for more than 2,000 people who have arrived in Kenya and are in quarantine centres.   This will be done alongside World Health Organization guidelines and in accordance with one's arrival date.   The countrywide curfew from dusk to dawn will continue until further notice.   The order was necessitated by the fact that citizens have not maintained social distancing.   Even when people have been asked to self-quarantine, they flout the rule in the evenings.   Potential carriers of the disease are young people who try to socialise at night.   While there are no new cases, Kagwe said the cases of infections are scattered across the country.   He cited the South African on quarantine in Nakuru who passed away in circumstances unrelated to the disease.   The South African embassy has been notified.   Kagwe said the dusk-to-dawn curfew starting tonight does not mean a shutdown or a cessation of activities.   "We urge businesses to reorganise their shifts to comply with curfew hours in line with the directive," he said in a statement on Friday.   The news comes a few days after all 239 passengers in the China Southern Airline flight have tested negative for coronavirus, the Health Ministry has said.   Health director-general Patrick Amoth on Thursday said the ministry is still on high alert to avert spread of the disease.   The 239 passengers arrived in Kenya on February 26 via the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.   Amoth in the report added that all entry points have mandatory screening areas to keep Covid-19 outside the country's borders.   Starting January 20, some 320,123 passengers have been screened for coronavirus.   “Each air, sea and land point of entry has a designated isolation facility to separate suspected cases for further monitoring,” Amoth said.   In Rift Valley, police have warned matatu operators that will flout the dusk to dawn curfew issued by President Uhuru Kenyatta on Wednesday that they will be arrested and their vehicles impounded.   Rift valley police commander Marcus Ochola has directed all passengers and drivers to adhere to the directive, to avoid confrontation with multi-agency team that will enforce the curfew scheduled from today at 7pm to 5am.   "Passengers should begin their journey early because we shall not allow anybody to be on the road at 7pm as directed by the president," said Ocholla.   He said a multi-agency team has been deployed to man main highways and roundabouts for the enforcement of the law aimed at preventing the spread of coronavirus.