Nakuru Governor Lee Kinyanjui has warned that the trend of rising cases of Covid-19 in the county is likely to get worse following the lifting of containment measures.
On Wednesday, the devolved unit recorded 24 new cases, the second highest number after Nairobi.
Most of the cases in the headquarters of the former Rift Valley province were recorded in Nakuru East, Naivasha, Nakuru West and Molo.
At least 10 out of the 57 active cases in the county are admitted to intensive care units in different hospitals.
Governor Kinyanjui on Thursday put Nakuru residents on high alert, saying the trend of infections and deaths is a cause for alarm.
He regretted that President Uhuru Kenyatta's positive move of opening up the economy was threatening to beat back the gains made in the fight to curb the spread of Covid-19.
By Thursday, truck drivers formed the largest part of the infected persons, with a total of 315 having tested positive for the disease.
Governor Kinyanjui had initially attributed the rise in infections to the fact that Nakuru is a transit town.
Others who are highly affected by the surge in infections include food handlers, inmates and healthcare workers, who reported 33, 28 and 56 cases respectively.
The county boss revealed that the infection rate has doubled in the past 10 days, while most patients who test positive are immediately admitted to ICU.
“Since the pandemic was reported, we have been having an average of between 10 and 15 people testing positive but currently, we are dealing with 20. Out of this number, 10 are on oxygen support, which is a major concern to us,” said the governor.
He regretted that most residents seem to have become complacent and are no longer adhering strictly to the safety guidelines outlined by the Ministry of Health such as isolation.
Contact tracing efforts have also reduced because the residents are no longer sharing information on suspected Covid-19 cases.
Mr Kinyanjui said the county emergency response team was grappling with the challenge of people not reporting suspected cases and only going to hospital when the cases become severe.
“Most of them come with complications and are directly admitted to the ICU even before they are diagnosed,” said Mr Kinyanjui.
Nakuru County has so far recorded 1,090 Covid-19 cases after testing 16,467 samples.
The county Covid-19 surveillance report for September indicates Nakuru’s infection rate has been rising exponentially.
According to the report, the county has a fatality rate of 2.7 while at least 521 patients have recovered.
President Uhuru Kenyatta on Monday eased some of the tough Covid-19 measures put in place in March to give businesses a breather.
The governor cautioned residents against engaging in behaviour that is likely to expose them to the virus, as that could plunge the country into a second wave of infections.
