CORONAVIRUS: Trump drops lockdown order, as Kenya police uses excessive force to impose curfew

The President of the United States of America, Donald Trump has jettisoned the idea of imposing a coronavirus lockdown and has also decided against quarantine for New York, New Jersey and Connecticut as the virus toll in US passes 2,000.

Instead, Trump in a post on Twitter late on Saturday directing that a “strong travel advisory” be issued for the area as criticisms grew after he earlier called to prohibit travel in and out of virus hotspots in the states of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

Similarly, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has urged residents of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut states to “refrain from non-essential domestic travel for 14 days effective immediately”.

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Meanwhile, Kenya police has come under scrutiny for using excessive force after firing tear gas and beating commuters with batons as the country imposes a dusk-to-dawn measure amid coronavirus fight.

Human rights groups have condemned the “unnecessary and excessive use of force” by Kenyan police, while elsewhere; officers were captured in mobile phone footage beating people with batons, causing an uproar in the country.

“On Friday, police fired tear gas at a crowd of ferry commuters in the port city of Mombasa before the 7pm to 5am curfew came into force,” 20 human rights groups, including Amnesty International, said in a statement on Saturday.

“This forced hundreds of people to touch their faces as they vomited, spat and wiped away tears, increasing the chance of the virus’s spread,” the statement added.

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