Kenya is prepared to tackle coronavirus, health ministry says

Kagwe said there is mandatory screening at all points of entry, with thermal scanners already in place.

"Nobody will be allowed in Kenya without being screened at the airports and ports. We are making arrangements to have screenings in other areas where people just walk in to Kenya," he said.

Kagwe said they are working with East African Community member states to ensure vigilance, adding that doctors from the five states met in his office on Friday morning for similar deliberations.

He said the government is working closely with the World Health Organization, Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention among others.

"Public members are encouraged to remain vigilant as the risk is still high. They are advised to continue taking precautionary measures at all times like maintaining hands and respiratory hygiene," Kagwe said.

He said they have entered into an arrangement with Safaricom, the leading communications company in Kenya, to educate the public about the disease and required precaution measures through free mobile phone messages.

Kagwe said the government has temporarily lifted the ban on flights from Italy, to allow an empty aircraft to pick up Italian nationals stranded in Kenya's coastal town of Malindi.

On Tuesday, the government imposed a ban on flights from northern Italy, specifically Verona and Milan over coronavirus concerns.

He said the government has also banned all meetings and conferences of international nature in the country.

"If a conference involves people travelling from outside the country for a meeting of more than 15 people, it should be postponed for the next 30 days," Kagwe said.

He said the government has also issued a travel advisory to all Kenyans to avoid non-essential travel to high risk countries for conferences or meetings involving more than 15 people.

Kagwe said the emergency response committee is cascading its work downwards to other sectors, like the ministry of transport working with sector players to ensure that certain levels of hygiene are being observed as a precaution measure against coronavirus.

"Let's not panic, instead, we should observe what is being advised by the ministry of health," he said.

Kagwe said Kenya is working with the World Bank Group on mitigating the economic effects of coronavirus.

The cabinet secretary also warned Kenyans against discriminating against nationals from Asia, urging them instead to remain sympathetic and friendly.

His comment follows a video that went viral on social media of a man and a woman of Asian origin being harassed in Nairobi's Kibra slums, by a resident who was questioning whether they had coronavirus.