How badly the pandemic affects Kenya will depend on systems
What you need to know:
The pandemic is almost certain to lead to a global economic recession.
The global economy is getting a nasty hammering. Last week, stock markets in America, Europe and Asia were hit by heavy losses.
The Nairobi Stock Exchange also took a plunge on Friday.
The hospitality, tourism and airline sectors worldwide have been severely affected. Kenyan tourism will be hurt too.
What we feared has come to pass. The first new coronavirus case has been reported in Kenya.
The victim is said to be a 27-year-old woman who travelled back from the US via London. Compared to Asia and Europe, infected cases in sub-Saharan Africa have not been many. Actually, the first cases reported in Nigeria, Senegal, Cameroon, Guinea and Ethiopia were of visiting foreigners. The sub-Saharan African countries that have reported infections are Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Cameroon, DR Congo, Burkina Faso, Togo, Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, Guinea, Ethiopia and now Kenya.
Yet everything is in flux, as nobody is sure how many cases remain undiagnosed, which could increase the number of infected people exponentially. Africa is keeping her fingers crossed against that. It would be a tragedy, because few African countries have the full medical infrastructure to handle a fast-growing pandemic. The Kenya government has banned public gatherings for the time being. The government has also banned all foreign travel by public and State officials. If the pandemic gets out of hand, authorities may need to consider closing schools as well.
The virus is spreading across the world and causing major havoc everywhere. America has declared a national emergency to free $50 billion to deal with it. The country has also banned flights from Europe for 30 days. The World Health Organization has cited Europe as the current “epicentre” of the pandemic. Italy, which has one of the worst coronavirus caseloads in the world, has been under virtual lockdown. Spain has declared a state of emergency, and quarantined four towns. Denmark is barring foreigners from entering the country. Schools have been ordered closed in Netherlands, Denmark, Ireland, Ukraine and parts of the US. Germany is set to do so this week. So is France with regard to nursery schools and universities. Even the Vatican has informed Italian Catholics that they are not obligated to attend Mass amid the crisis. Another country with a high caseload — Iran — is seeking a $5 billion IMF loan to cope.
Sport has taken a big hit. In England, the popular football Premier League has been suspended until April. Professional football matches have also been stopped in Germany, Scotland, Spain and Italy. In the US the National Basketball Association games have similarly been suspended. The London Marathon has been postponed. The Confederation of African Football has equally postponed championship qualifying matches. Could the Tokyo Olympics in July come under threat?
The pandemic is almost certain to lead to a global economic recession. The global economy is getting a nasty hammering. Last week, stock markets in America, Europe and Asia were hit by heavy losses. The Nairobi Stock Exchange also took a plunge on Friday. The hospitality, tourism and airline sectors worldwide have been severely affected. Kenyan tourism will be hurt too. The industry in Thailand and Bali in Indonesia is on its knees as tourists keep off. Many, many jobs could be lost worldwide in the tourism, hospitality and travel industries if the pandemic persists. Experts predict bankruptcies among weak airlines and government bailouts for the lucky ones. Germany’s Lufthansa has grounded more than half of its fleet after the cancellation of many routes. Kenya Airways was at first reluctant to suspend its profitable China routes until public pressure forced the airline to reconsider.
The situation in China, a major exporter of manufactured goods, has disrupted supply chains worldwide. The tough quarantine measures the Chinese have taken to deal with the pandemic have been welcomed by medics across the world.
This contrasts with the situation in the US as of last week, where test kits were insufficient. In recent days, the rate of infections in China has slowed noticeably.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has gone into self-quarantine after his wife was diagnosed with the coronavirus.
It was unclear if Trump would undergo a test after an official who had accompanied Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro for a meeting with the US leader in the latter’s Florida residence tested positive for the virus.
In many European countries, body hugs and handshakes are being discouraged. Human beings are social beings. They like to be with and around people. But the coronavirus is changing life drastically in affected areas of the world. Britain has adopted a nuanced approach to tackling the contagion by deliberately concentrating on the most vulnerable cases so as not to overload its medical facilities precisely because it expects the caseload to shoot up. She is also hoping for increased immunity.
This has been a bad year for Kenya. There was the locust invasion. And now this coronavirus.
