On 13th March 2020, Kenya announced its first COVID-19 case and since then, everything
changed. It has been close to a year now and the pandemic has already brought adverse
effects on several sectors of the economy in particular; tourism, agriculture, manufacturing, and trade. COVID-19 has also brought adverse socio-economic impacts on the health and livelihoods of families and communities across the nation altering the social behavior of Kenyans.
Social behavioral change with regards to the COVID-19 pandemic operates through one
main distinct channel and that is aversion. It results from the fear of catching the virus.
Aversion further leads to a fear of association with other Kenyans, reduced labor force
participation, closed places of employment, transport disruption, and closing of borders,
and restrict the entry of citizens from afflicted countries by the government.
Aversion has been what most Kenyans did soon after Kenya reported her first coronavirus
case. Citizens were also keen in observing guidelines laid out by the World Health
Organization and the Ministry of Health. However, over time, things gradually changed.
Slowly by slowly Kenyans silently slipped back to what was their normal lives before the
pandemic. This happened because most Kenyans thought the virus was a hoax and
manipulations of numbers by the authorities. Doubt was also fuelled by the fact that despite the numbers, most Kenyans didn’t know anyone they know that contracted the virus.
Whilst social distancing is one of the guidelines that seek to control and prevent the spread
of the virus, Kenyans still gather in crowds despite the legal prohibition of such meetings by
the national government. Nairobi’s CBD street gamblers are up to business as usual, citizens politicking in congested crowd as normal, bus parks, markets, hotels, banking halls, and estates especially informal settlements crowds are even worse. Citizens seem not to be bothered by the risks they expose themselves to in these crowded and congested meetings.
Some church owners and leaders weren’t left out and are still calling for church services just to reap from tithe and offerings.
Carelessness about the handling of Covid-19 has also been
displayed even by leaders, politicians, and public officers who hold public and political
meetings without observing protocols laid out. Some of these leaders have also traveled
abroad ignoring self-quarantine.
To cushion the country from the spread and effects of the pandemic, President Uhuru
Kenyatta was on March 25 compelled to declare a national dusk-to-dawn curfew from 7 pm
to 5 am daily from the beginning of March 27. The ban excludes essential service providers
only. Later in September, President Kenyatta extended the curfew for another 60 days
between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. The curfew has had various socioeconomic impacts especially
on persons who live hand to mouth. Moreover, police brutality and arrests during curfews
hours have worsened the situation for many.
The president also enforced a total lockdown across the Nairobi metropolitan and
suspended all political gatherings and rallies for a period of 60 days. The move was due to the fact that the public had failed to follow health protocols to limit the spread of COVID-19, leading to a jump in daily infections.
Learning institutions, especially universities and colleges, have adopted online learning and
the government has closed border points with Uganda, Tanzania, and Somalia. So far, the
virus is spreading through an intra-county movement which has increased infections in
counties neighboring the hotspots. The government has mitigated this by imposing strict
measures that have had rapid increases in positive results so far
When the government realized that persons traveling into the country were not adhering to
self-quarantine measures, a mandatory self-quarantine was imposed at designated
government facilities at a cost to the individual. This was, however, rescinded, and now
individuals who test positively receive treatment at costs borne by the government.
Whether it is about ignorance or simply lies, Kenyans must now change their social
behavior. Otherwise, such behaviors might enable the virus to spread colossally and bring
adverse effects to the country.
Given that the coronavirus pandemic is already having an adverse socio-economic impact on the Kenyan economy and the impact may worsen, a whole government and society
approach is needed to avoid a full-blown pandemic and prioritize prompt case detection.
The government should also prioritize infection prevention and control, risk communication
and community engagement, point of entry screening, laboratory confirmation, quarantine,
and isolation measures including mechanisms to offer effective supportive case
management.
