China is facing a new wave of Covid-19 that experts are describing as second deadlier after Wuhan. Millions of Chinese have been put under immediate lockdown, public transport halted and streets left empty.
China is currently facing a surge in Omicron A.2, a sub-variant also known as stealth Omicron that has been spreading at a high rate forcing the government to impose strict measures including lockdowns and mass testing.
The infections are high in the northeastern province of Jilin which has more than 24 million people. The entire province was put under lockdown will people from the region were ordered to stay in their homes.
Another province that has been put under lockdown is that of Shenzhen with more than 17.5 million inhabitants. The government says most of the cases reported have been imported from Hong Kong where it is estimated that more than 3 million people (almost half of the population) are infected.
As the new cases begin to pile in China, closer home, the Ministry of Health in Kenya told Kenyans that the wearing of masks was not mandatory in public places. Some Kenyans celebrated and indeed almost everyone has abandoned their masks following the announcement by Mutahi Kagwe.
Should Kenyans consider what is happening in China right now and ignore what Mutahi Kagwe had directed and just put on their masks? What if the government indeed wants the cases to rise so that we can seek sympathy from donors to get funds? This is Kenya.
This being an election year, everything is possible. Maybe the government wants Kenyans to get infected so that they can impose a lockdown a few months before the election. Or maybe they just want cases to rise so that the country can get those Covid-19 dollars from donors.
Dear Kenyans, please do not abandon your masks. Put them on.
