Non-essential offices at City Hall to close for 30 days
City Hall will close all its non-essential offices from Monday for a period of 30 days as a precautionary measure to curb the escalating Covid-19 cases in the city.
The move is also in strict compliance with President Uhuru Kenyatta’s address on the Coronavirus pandemic issued on Friday 26th March.
Nairobi Deputy Governor Ann Kananu in her statement said that City Hall has continued to be a Red Zone hence the need to take stern action.She said that there was need to consider reviewing the work environment and daily interactions.
“It is important to note that we consider the safety of our employees and customers as core to our operations. It is in this regard that we need to consider reviewing our work environment and daily interactions, ‘’
All Nairobi County Chief Officers have been instructed to ensure essential services continue as the country battles the pandemic.
Some of the departments that will likely remain shut following the directive include the youths and sports department, Agriculture,section of the Human Resource Department and part of the ICT department.
Services that will continue to be provided include; health, water environment and sanitation, disaster management and coordination, revenue collection, finance and economic planning, procurement and supply chain and security services.
In his presidential address, president Uhuru also ordered the closure of the Nairobi City County Assembly which sources indicate was earmarked as another red zone.
The Times is aware that a number of staff had raised fears of the escalating number of positive cases at City Hall and the situation is not friendly at all at the County Assembly.
On Thursday, the Ministry of Health said that over the previous nine days, Nairobi reported 5,718 new cases, accounting for 57.7% of the nation’s total.
In his speech on Friday, President Uhuru Kenyatta announced restrictions on movement in and out of the city, as well Kajiado,Machakos and Nakuru counties.
In January, the country had 4,380 new cases, with a positivity rate of 2.6%, and so far this month there have been 15,916 new cases, with a positivity rate of 22%. About seven people have died per day this month.
Following this development, the Deputy Governor Ann Kananu is also expected to lead county executives in participating in the Covid-19 vaccination exercise from tomorrow.
Kananu has called on Nairobi residents to get vaccinated and adhere to the health protocols by the ministry of health.
“The Covid-19 vaccine is a great step towards the fight in the spread of the virus. The World Health organization (WHO) has approved distribution and use of various vaccines, let us get vaccinated and fight this invisible enemy. Stay safe by adhering to set Covid- 19 protocols of regularly washing hands, wearing masks and social distancing,” Kananu
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