Covid-19: We’re beginning to flatten the curve — CS Kagwe
Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe.
What you need to know:
- Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe said Kenya has for several days now seen a positivity rate of below five percent.
- Kenya recorded 130 new Covid-19 cases from 3,874 samples bringing the national tally to 37,348.
- Another five patients succumbed to the virus overnight.
The Ministry of Health said Tuesday the country is beginning to flatten the Covid-19 curve of but insisted that Kenyans must continue to guard against complacency to avoid a second wave of the deadly disease.
Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe said Kenya has in the last several days seen a positivity rate of below five percent.
The World Health Organization (WHO) proposes that when a country can run a below five percent positivity for 14 to 21 consecutive days, then that nation has begun to flatten the pandemic curve.
But, a flatter curve is also determined by the number of patients admitted in hospitals and those who are critical.
Acting Health Director General Dr Patrick Amoth said the number of Covid-19 patients in health facilities has drastically gone down from over 1,200 two months ago to the current 484.
As of Tuesday, there were 14 patients in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) with only four being under ventilator support while the other 10 on supplementary oxygen.
On Wednesday, Mr Kagwe announced that 130 more people tested positive for the virus on Tuesday from a sample size of 3,874. The Health minister noted that this was a positivity rate of 3.4 percent.
The minister also announced that Covid-19 recoveries increased to 24,253 after 106 more patients were declared cured. He said 81 patients were discharged from hospitals and 25 were on home-based care.
Another five patients succumb to the new coronavirus in Kenya taking death toll to 664, Mr Kagwe said.
