Funerals to be conducted within 72 hours, attended by 50 people only Uhuru

President Uhuru Kenyatta on Friday directed that all funerals, cremations and interment ceremonies be conducted within 72 hours of confirmation of death.

This comes as part of a raft of new measures announced by the Head of State aimed at taming the rising number of COVID-19 infections in the country.

President Kenyatta, in an address at State House in Nairobi, said the attendees, officiators, and facilitators of funerals or cremation ceremonies shall be limited to a maximum of only 50 persons.

He however stated that the attendees, officiators, and facilitators of weddings, traditional unions or ceremonies of rites of passage shall be limited to only 30 persons.

The President further extended the ban on political gatherings until further notice, adding that all physical meetings and social gatherings shall have a cap of no more than 15 persons.

“…the Judiciary, Law Enforcement, Remand and Correctional Facilities, the Director of Public Prosecutions, and other players and stakeholders in the criminal justice and civil justice systems are to take immediate action to eliminate non-essential physical contact or situations within their areas of mandate that may lead to crowding or propagation of the Disease,” he said.

“…all hospitals are directed to limit the number of visitors for hospitalized patients to two visitors per patient. All employers and enterprises of whatever nature including public bodies, the private sector, government offices, and others are directed to allow employees to work from home, with the exception of employees working in critical or essential services that cannot be delivered remotely, until further notified.”

President Kenyatta, while acknowledging that the new measures will constrain the way of life, said they are temporary and necessary to contain the spread of the disease.

“I am convinced that the cost of not acting now would be far greater. This is not an enemy that we are called upon to fight with bullets and bombs; but rather one that can be defeated by physical and social distancing, wearing of appropriate facemasks, frequent hand washing with soap and running water, and compliance with all other anti-coronavirus guidelines and protocols,” he added.