NAIROBI, Kenya Mar 30 – Coronavirus cases in the country rose to fifty on Monday after the Ministry of Health confirmed eight more cases out of eighty-four samples that were analyzed within the last 24 hours.
Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe said 1,211 persons who came into class contact with confirmed cases are still being processed with 231 who have tested positive having been discharged after completing a mandatory quarantine period.
“One case is from our quarantined guests, 6 confirmed cases are from 88 tested samples of people who came into close contact with confirmed patients and additional one from Agha Khan hospital,” said Kagwe.
The CS said Nairobi remains the epicenter of the infections leading with 34 cases, followed by Kilifi with 6. Kitui registered its first case on Monday.
Kagwe called for more personal responsibility, saying the virus was now being spread locally in the country as no new cases are being imported.
“The virus is now being spread through community transmission. This means that the disease is no longer imported from outside but its here with us. We are now spreading it among ourselves and we must now raise our level of alert and intervention measures,” he said.
the confirmation of eight new cases on Monday put the spread of the virus in Kenya on a steady rise three weeks since the first case was reported with the health ministry urging for a serious approach by the general public to contain the spread.
The CS also discouraged urban-rural travel and vice versa, saying the elderly who are the most vulnerable may be exposed to the virus, a situation which could lead to the spiraling of infections and deaths.
Kenya has recorded a single death since the confirmation of the first positive coronavirus case.
Kenya’s Director General Public Health Patrick Amoth said current projections indicate about 1000 cases will be recorded by the end of the first week of April, 5000 by mid- April and potentially 10,000 by April 30, “in the absence of any drastic intervention”.
The Ministry of Education is working with county governments to identify at least 20 boarding schools in each devolved unit which will be converted into makeshift hospitals for COVID-19 patients should cases recorded in the country increase.
Deputy President William Ruto Monday said the boarding schools will be well equipped to be used as health facilities in case of a crisis.
In Africa, there are 4, 457 confirmed cases, 155 deaths and 285 recoveries, with South Africa leading with over 1000 infections.
Globally there are over 700,000 infections with 34,000 reported fatalities.
The US is leading in number of infections with reported 123,781 cases.
US media on Sunday reported that health facilities were beggining to get overwhelmed.
Italy is leading in number of deaths globally with the country’s death toll standing at 10,000.
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