88 Overall Score

Kenya

  • 72.2 Public Health
    Directives
  • 63.2 Financial
    Response
  • 100 Fact-Based
    Communication
  • 72.2 Public Health
    Directives
  • 63.2 Financial
    Response
  • 100 Fact-Based
    Communication

Kenya has a strong overall policy score, although down significantly from January. However, it is consistently scoring well in all areas, particularly its reliance with respect to facts and science on COVID-19.

Pre-COVID Conditions

Kenya is one of the poorest countries in the Index, with a high infant mortality rate and low hospital bed availability, limiting its capacity pre-COVID-19.

  • Debt/GDP ratio 60.1%
  • GDP/capita $4,078
  • Gini coefficient (out of 100) 40.8
  • Infant mortality rate (out of 1,000 live births) 31
  • Healthcare access score (out of 100) 48.7
  • Hospital beds/1,000 People 9.5

Government Response

Select a data point for more information
(Data points represent policy level as of Aug 1.)
72.2

Public Health Directives

Kenya had strong, early health policy directives pertaining to the pandemic, although its relatively strong score was brought down by limited testing, travel restrictions, and contact tracing.

  • Stay at home order 1
  • Public gathering restrictions 4
  • School closings 3
  • Public event cancellations 2
  • Testing policy 3
  • Emergency healthcare investments/capita $0.00
  • Travel restrictions 4
  • Tests/1,000 people 0.1
  • Contact tracing 2
63.2

Financial Response

Kenya’s median-level stimulus package pushed its financial response score down, although it is still relatively strong, driven by its supportive policy on debt and income assistance.

  • Financial stimulus as share of GDP 0.9%
  • Income support 1
  • Debt forebearance 1
100

Fact-Based Communication

Kenya’s government is very strong in this category, as it has not engaged in misinformation or limited press freedom in response to COVID-19.

  • Reliance on science/fact based information 0
  • Press freedom 0

COVID-19 Status as of Aug 1

Kenya’s in-country pandemic status is relatively strong, consistently so across all categories, which could have been boosted by its strong restrictions on public interactions.

  • Total deaths 341
  • Death rate per 100K 6.3
  • Total cases 20,636
  • Cases per 100K 384
  • Percent of positive tests 11
Case Trend Line
Daily cases Level 2 Lockdown Level 3 Lockdown
Date Status New Cases/1M
1 Apr 27 Restaurants begin to reopen 0.23
2 Jul 06 Places of worship (but not Sunday schools or madrassas) begin reopening, with restrictions 4.83

Differentiating Factors

  • Lockdown devastated informal sector: An estimated 15 million Kenyans work in the informal economy, compared to just 2.9 million formal sector workers. Kenya's lockdown measures, including curfews and travel restrictions, have essentially prevented the majority of workers from conducting trade and earning money. Read More
  • Lockdown enforcement turned violent: Kenyan security forces have reportedly whipped and even killed civilians in their enforcement of lockdown measures. Unclear and hastily imposed lockdown measures have provided cover for military and police forces around the world to respond violently to civilians. Read More
  • Tourism industry devastated: In June, Kenya's tourism minister announced that the country had lost the equivalent of half of 2019's tourist revenue so far, about $752 million or 80 billion shillings. Read More
Compared with Other African Countries
  • 81
    Ethiopia 17,530
    Cases     153
    Per 1M     274
    Deaths

    Despite having relatively weak pre-pandemic capacity, swift action and prevention-based messaging from the government helped mitigate spread early on in the crisis.

  • 74.8
    Ghana 35,501
    Cases     1,143
    Per 1M     182
    Deaths

    Ghana scores strongly on the Index, due primarily to its proactive public health policy, strong examples set by leadership, and reliance on facts; while consistently strong, it does have very weak testing, limited emergency healthcare spending, and a weak stimulus.

  • 74.5
    Senegal 10,232
    Cases     611
    Per 1M     205
    Deaths

    Senegal’s COVID-19 policy response has been very strong across the board, buoyed by strong public health directives and a reliance on science and facts.

  • 54.2
    South Africa 493,183
    Cases     8,316
    Per 1M     8,005
    Deaths

    Overall, South Africa's score is relatively strong with vigorous policy implementation—particularly with respect to lockdowns—offset by its relatively meager financial response.

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New Zealand

Statistics and government response factors available on each country profile include:

Pre-COVID Conditions:

  • Debt to GDP ratio
  • Infant mortality rates
  • Hospital beds per 1,000 people
  • Gini coefficients measuring inequality
  • Health access and quality

COVID-19 Public Health Directives:

  • Stay-at home orders
  • School-closing policy
  • Public-gathering restrictions
  • Cancellation of public events
  • Testing policy and rates per 1,000 people
  • Emergency healthcare spending per capita
  • Travel restrictions
  • Contact tracing

COVID-19 Financial Response:

  • Stimulus package as a share of GDP
  • Income support
  • Debt-forbearance

Public Communications:

  • Instances of misinformation by leadership
  • Limitations on press freedom, censorship

Current/Historic In-Country COVID-19 Status:

  • Death rates per 1 million
  • Case rates per 1 million