Covid-19: Kenya nears 10,000 cases as 278 more test positive
What you need to know:
- Health Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) Mercy Mwangangi gave the update in Kwale County as officials from ministry visit devolved units to assess their plans for fighting the deadly disease and determine the support they need.
- Dr Mwangangi also reported that the number of recoveries has risen to 2,832 as 99 more patients have been discharged.
The number of Covid-19 cases in Kenya rose by 278 on Saturday to reach a total of 9,726 since the first one was reported on March 13.
Health Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) Mercy Mwangangi gave the update in Kwale County as officials from ministry visit devolved units to assess their plans for fighting the deadly disease and determine the support they need.
So far, the officials have visited Makueni, Kilifi and Mombasa counties as well.
Dr Mwangangi also reported that the number of recoveries had risen to 2,832 as 99 more patients had been discharged.
The death toll increased by three to reach 184.
NUMBERS RISING
The new cases, which pushed Kenya closer to the 10,000 mark, were found following the testing of 1,403 samples in the last 24 hours. This raised the total number of samples tested in the country in four months to 207,987.
Nairobi and Mombasa remained the two counties with the highest numbers of cases - 5,350 and 1,722 cases, respectively.
Dr Mwangangi urged the public to follow guidelines issued by the government to ensure there is no flare up of cases as many travel upcountry with the reopening of county borders.
"Individual responsibility is key in fighting the disease as the government upgrades health facilities with necessary infrastructure to contain the pandemic," she said.
"The likelihood of transporting the virus from one county to another increases with cross county movement. It is therefore important to travel only when absolutely necessary, and if you must, always remember to observe containment measures."
KWALE STATUS
In terms of county preparedness, the ministry praised Kwale for fulfilling the requirement for at least 300 beds for Covid-19 patients. The county had 424 beds at Msambweni Covid-19 Hospital as of Saturday.
Dr Mwangangi noted that Kwale had recorded 139 cases of the virus as of July 11, from the testing of a total of 1,539 samples, but that no patients were being treated in hospital.
She said most of them had recovered and that only nine were under home-based care.
Governor Salim Mvurya said Kwale is sufficiently prepared to fight the disease and has been testing samples at a local laboratory.
He also said 1,119 health workers have been trained on administering home-based care and other kinds of case management protocols as the government works to minimise congestion at health facilities.
Chief and ward administrators have also been trained, he said.
“We have no active case at the moment,” he noted but urged residents to adhere to regulations for curbing the spread of the disease.
