Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Devolution, Eugene Wamalwa, says the country’s long rainy season has wreaked havoc across the country with flash floods, landslides and sinkholes displacing thousands of people.
The situation has been made worse by restrictions on movement as the country battles to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Rivers in several parts of the country have burst their banks, submerging entire towns and villages. Desperate residents, who are now homeless, have been wading through the rising waters or using boats and motorbikes, hoping to save their lives and possessions. Roads and bridges have also been cut-off, making the delivery of relief food a challenge for aid workers.
More than 160 people have died in Kenya due to the flash floods in the East African nation since March 2020.
Meanwhile, Uganda President Yoweri Museveni on Monday announced a restricted opening up of that country’s economy, which was placed under a lockdown 43 days ago, to fight the spread of the coronavirus. This comes as health officials ramped up testing of cross-border truck drivers seen as a high risk group for the spread of the coronavirus.
37 truck drivers have tested positive for COVID-19 in Uganda. 17 Kenyans, 14 Tanzanians, 1 Burundian, 1 Rwandese and 4 Ugandans. #SABCnews https://t.co/UQAGYxplbM
— Sarah Kimani (@sarahkimani) May 5, 2020
Uganda had registered 97 COVID-19 cases, at least 37 of them were truckers arriving from neighbouring countries. Rwanda also announced that it would begin easing lockdown restrictions this week.
Still on COVID-19, the continental Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) says it is holding discussions with Madagascar, with a view to obtaining technical data regarding the safety and efficiency of a herbal remedy for the reported prevention and treatment of COVID-19.
The World Health Organisation on Monday warned against untested COVID-19 traditional medicines.
