国际英语新闻:Feature:Kenya's night curfew curbs social interactions in COVID-19 fight

NAIROBI, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Every Saturday, Nairobi resident Mathew Kisaka spent the better part of the morning cleaning his car and then left his house on the east of Nairobi in the afternoon to "hang out" with friends at drinking joints until late into the night.

"Saturday was a day to have fun and unwind with friends," recalled the insurance agent on Saturday of the routine practiced by hundreds of young working men and women in urban centers across Nairobi.

"Sometimes I would meet friends in the evenings during weekdays but Saturday was the day to hang out," he added.

But things changed in the wake of the outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease in the east African nation.

The government identified Kenyans' social habits, especially during the night and the weekend, as among practices that may fuel the spread of COVID-19 and moved to curtail them through various measures.

These include closure of bars and other entertainment spots and introduction of dusk-to-dawn curfew.

The measures, in particular the curfew, have cut social interactions at night effectively enhancing social distancing.

Kenya is a country with a vibrant nightlife that sustains a huge economy that includes the alcohol and livestock sectors.

For the latter, tons of beef, mutton and goat meat are normally grilled at entertainment spots for eating by revelers as they wash it down with alcoholic drinks.

The vibrant social life before the outbreak of COVID-19 would see young Kenyans hop from one bar to another making merry.

Some had started holding the parties at their houses when government closed bars but the imposition of a curfew on March 26 has limited such misdemeanors minimizing chances of virus spread.

The curfew has completely eliminated the once vibrant socialization in public places at night, with millions of Kenyans staying indoors.

A survey in the capital Nairobi on Friday night shows that through the curfew, Kenya has completely eliminated 'reckless' socialization curbing the spread of the virus.

In the city center, all shops had closed by 6 p.m. as people left for their homes to beat the 7 p.m. deadline.

And by 7 p.m., a drive through the city center showed that save for night guards sitting at their places of work, the streets were empty, including street families.

It was a similar case in residential areas along the Thika superhighway, in the populous Eastlands on the east of the capital through to Mombasa road on the south.

Throughout the drive, one could only pick out police cars, ambulances and power utility firms vehicles. And up in the sky, a police helicopter shone its light down, searching for any suspicious activities.

"The curfew has succeeded in eliminating night movement which would have been key in spread of the disease. Without the curfew, people would be moving from one estate to another holding parties in homes," observed Ernest Manuyo, a lecturer at Pioneer Institute in Nairobi.

He added that with the curfew, Kenyans are focusing more on core activities, especially those that generate income.

"This I believe has helped people avoid unnecessary spending that would have happened at night thus for some families, this means more disposable income," he added.

He said the restriction of night movement has cut social interactions by some 10 hours, effectively curbing the spread of the virus.

However, even as Kenyans largely obey the curfew, a few have been disregarding it by engaging in social activities like drinking in groups at their homes under the cover of darkness.

"There are clustered estates which are giving us problems and estates which are likely to be COVID-19 hot spots. All of them have got one characteristic: recklessness and disobedience to the guidelines that have been given. We are going to turn up the heat," Interior secretary Fred Matiang'i said on Friday.

Kenya has so far recorded 262 COVID-19 infection cases, 12 deaths and 53 recoveries and has ramped up measures to curb its spread.