Kenya on the brink as Covid-19 kills nearly one in every hour

Nearly one person died every hour as the country reported its highest daily tally of 21 Covid-19 fatalities yesterday, pointing to a deepening crisis that is raising fears of overwhelming Kenya’s rickety health system.  

The number of Covid-19 deaths has now hit 1,072 since the pandemic was first reported in the country in March, with over 67 of them occurring in the past five days, a new high for the country. Yesterday, 1,008 new Covid-19 positive cases were reported, raising the total number of infections in the country to 59,595.

“Sadly, we have lost 21 patients to the disease bringing the fatality to 1,072,” Health CS Mutahi Kagwe said in his statement yesterday.

The average daily double-digits death rate reported last month is being blamed on the high number of patients seeking treatment in poorly equipped rural hospitals, as community infections have exposed vulnerable and immune-compromised age groups.

“In October only, we have had over 15,000 new cases of Corona infections and approximately 300 deaths according to the National Multi-Agency Command Centre on Covid-19,” President Uhuru Kenyatta said in his thirteenth state of the Covid-19 address on Wednesday.

October was Kenya’s toughest month in the fight against Covid-19 with 285 people losing their lives to the virus, translating to an average of nearly 10 deaths a day. In the same month, the country also recorded the highest fatalities in a single day, which was 18 on October 26.

This makes yesterday’s death toll the highest single-day count so far, as the country turns a critical stage in its battle with the virus.

An analysis of the covid-19 fatalities shows that August was the second-deadliest month with 233 deaths reported, followed by July with 193 fatalities, September (133), June (85), May (46) and April (17 fatalities).

“Since March, the last week of October has seen close to 100 deaths and a sharp increase in the positivity rate. This has been the toughest in the country’s Covid-19 history,” CS Kagwe said.

A summary of Covid-19 data by the Health ministry seen by the Nation indicates that Nairobi accounts for over 50 per cent of the fatalities so far at 517, followed by Kiambu at 103, Mombasa at 74 and Nakuru at 64 deaths.

In yesterday’s announcement, Nakuru County led with 10 deaths, followed by Nairobi with three fatalities. Meru, Kericho, and Bomet had two fatalities each, while Kisii, Tharaka Nithi and Biomet had a fatality each, the data shows.

Of the country’s total Covid-19 fatalities, 224 occurred at home with the rest recorded at different health facilities spread across the country.  The Health ministry data also shows that 187 admissions occurred across the country in the 24 hours to yesterday, with 26 patients on ventilators, 31 on supplementary oxygen in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and five on observation in the ICU.

“Within the general wards, 70 patients were on supplementary oxygen, with 13 patients being on supplementary oxygen in the High Dependency Unit,” the report says.

In terms of patient admission, Nairobi is now leading with 382 Covid-19 hospital cases followed by Bungoma with 142, and Mombasa at 96. Busia has 96, Kakamega 54, Nakuru 34, and Kericho has 48.  The country has over 5,189 Covid-19 patients currently on home care, with Nairobi leading again at 1,190, followed by Kiambu at 542, Nakuru with 482 and Uasin Gishu at 472. Mombasa has 383, the data shows.