- Title: Kenya bans public events after confirming first coronavirus case
- Date: 13th March 2020
- Summary: NAIROBI, KENYA (RECENT - MARCH 6, 2020) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF KENYATTA NATIONAL HOSPITAL'S INFECTIOUS DISEASE UNIT BUILDING MEDICAL OFFICERS IN PROTECTIVE GEAR EMPTY BEDS IN THE WARD MEDICAL OFFICERS AND HOSPITAL EQUIPMENT IN THE WARD
- Embargoed: 27th March 2020 12:26
- Keywords: Africa COVID-19 China Health Minister Mutahi Kagwe Kenya Nairobi Wuhan coronavirus suspended all public gatherings virus
- Location: NAIROBI, KENYA
- City: NAIROBI, KENYA
- Country: Kenya
- Topics: Health/Medicine
- Reuters ID: LVA002C4VZFIF
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Kenya has banned all major public events after confirming East Africa's first case of the new coronavirus, a woman who had returned to the capital Nairobi from the United States, the health minister said on Friday (March 13).
Kenya, the richest economy in the region and a hub for global firms and the United Nations, is the 11th country in sub-Saharan Africa to confirm a case of COVID-19, bringing the total number of reported cases to 39.
Health Minister Mutahi Kagwe told a news conference the government had suspended all public gatherings, sporting events, open-air religious meetings and "all events that are of a huge public nature".
Schools will remain open but all inter-school events will be suspended, he said.
Soon after the announcement, shoppers filled a supermarket, buying up cartloads of staples like maize flour and water as well as hand sanitizers and soap.
Kagwe said the patient had been diagnosed at the national influenza centre laboratory on Thursday night after travelling home via London on March 5.
The 27-year-old Kenyan is stable and her temperature has gone to down to normal, the minister said.
(Production: Njeri Mwangi, Jackson Njehia) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2020. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None