Transportation in Kenya: The Weak Link in the Fight Against COVID-19

Public Transport in Kenya

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has spread rapidly across the globe, disrupting daily activities, ruining economies and livelihoods and in extreme cases, claiming lives. It has thrown the whole world into a crisis and for the first time in history, humanity is fighting a common enemy. This is so because everyone has a role to play in this unprecedented global war. Transport operators too, have a key role to play to prevent the spread of the infection while keeping essential services like food and medicine supply running.

However, the challenge is in Nairobi, about 42% of daily commuters walk, 48% ride a matatu, 5% commute by private car, and the remaining 5% use other modes (Salon and Gulyani, 2019). The exact mode of spread of COVID-19 is a subject of debate among experts. It is believed that COVID-19 particles probably do not persist in the air in the same way flu particles do, so, people need to be in closer contact with each other to catch it. It is felt that being within two meters of an infected person for more than 15 minutes could expose someone to great risk of infection.

For more, click https://uonresearch.org/blog/transportation-in-kenya-the-weak-link-in-the-fight-against-covid-19/