- April 18, 2020
- Posted by: Mayleen Admin
- Category: Health
CAPTION: Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe.
At Day 35, the confirmed COVID19 cases in Kenya are tracking higher than Italy and Spain which went onto explosive surge from Day 45, while France, UK and USA surged from Day 55.
In light of this, the Government has stepped up measures and efforts to mitigate this scenario by releasing county and community-specific infection numbers, hoping that this will encourage more precaution and personal responsibility amongst Kenyans.
In his daily briefing, Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe said that numbers are on a steady rise. In the last 24 hours, the country has doubled the testing capacity to test 1,115 samples. Out of these samples, sixteen (16) have tested positive for Coronavirus disease, bringing to 262 the total number of confirmed cases in the country.
Fifteen (15) of these cases who have tested positive are Kenyans, and one (1) a foreigner. Twelve (12) are males and four (4) are females. None has a history of travel and none of these new cases emanated from quarantine centers. Nine (9) are from Nairobi, five (5) from Mombasa and one (1) from Homabay Counties. They are aged between 23 and 84 years of age.
On a positive side, seven (7) discharges were announced today bringing the number of recoveries to 60. However, two (2) more cases were reported as dead, bringing the total number of deaths to twelve (12).
The Kenya Government has mapped the cases and zeroed down to the areas of origin. In Nairobi for instance, we have noticed the cases are spread between almost all estates with Kilimani (6), Pipeline (5), Karen (4), South C (4),Kawangware (3), Tassia (2), Utawala (4), Kitisuru (2), Parklands (2), Buru Buru (2) and Kibra (2) leading in the number of cases. Almost every other city estate has reported at least one (1) case – Donholm, Eastleigh, Hurlingham, Lavington, Runda, Ngara, Madaraka, Kasarani- and many more.
A total of 2,609 contacts have been monitored, out of which 2,036 have been discharged. 573 contacts are being followed at the moment. A total of 11,909 samples have been tested so far.
This comes as the government prepares to roll-out mass testing in the country, with Nairobi, Mombasa, Kilifi and Kwale counties being earmarked for the exercise.