EDITORIAL: Culture change key in defeating disease

With the government stepping up efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic in the country, it has become vividly clear that there is urgent need for a total culture change across the whole population.

While the State has rolled out measures to tackle the disease, ranging from a nationwide dusk-to dawn curfew and restriction of movement in some counties deemed as hot spot, more still needs to be done.

We opine that time has come for a comprehensive sensitisation campaign across the country to enlighten Kenyans on the benefits of adhering to handwashing, social distancing and wearing of face masks.

Security personnel also need to be humane when enforcing the regulations.

Some rogue officers have turned the compliance to wearing face masks into a rent-seeking endeavor that wholly negates the whole purpose of instilling discipline.

Reports of people being brutally beaten for violating the night curfew, sometimes fatally, is not how a country should go about instilling adherence.

And with the impact of social distancing and restriction of businesses like bars and restaurants impacting negatively on consumer spending, the stage has been set for further job cuts and unpaid leave for workers struggling with reduced cash flow.

Kenyans should know that it is no longer business as usual hence the need to adopt the rules rolled out by the government without fail.

A complete culture change will go a long way in curbing the spread and eventually containing the pandemic. But we must add that success lies in the change being an inane instinct rather than short-lived acts aimed at fooling the enforcers. For example, wearing a face mask should be a day-to-day affair and not a spur of the moment act when security personnel are in the vicinity.

The Kenyan economy has taken a serious beating, which highlights the impact of the coronavirus on business and growth.

It goes without saying that culture change should be a way of life.