NAIROBI, Kenya July 18 – Tana River is the latest county to record a COVID-19 case, raising the number of counties with the virus to 44.
Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe said the rising trend is worrying especially after Kenya hit another record high of 688 new infections on Saturday.
This raises the country’s case load to 12, 750.
“What these numbers tell us is that the virus has really spread into the communities because most of these people are still in Nairobi but additionally, we are now seeing new counties getting it,” he said.
Kenya has been recording high infections since July 6 when President Uhuru Kenyatta lifted travel restriction that affected Nairobi, Mombasa and Mandera.
A nigh curfew is still in force countrywide, until August 6 when the president will issue new directions. Bars and large gatherings are also restricted.
Kagwe said the success of fighting the virus can only be achieved if Kenyans work together and take personal responsibility.
“The success of our efforts as a county in combating the pandemic depends on the collaboration corporation of all Kenyans,” he said, during a tour Embu County.
He also urged counties which have not complied with the directive to have at least 300 isolation beds hasten the process.
On Saturday, Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe unveiled a new slogan ‘Save Me I Save You’ in the war against COVID-19.
He said the new slogan is aimed at making each person wary of the person next to them. “We must protect each other.”
“When I protect you, you protect me,” Kagwe said Saturday, during a briefing on COVID-19 from Embu County.
“When the person next to you is keeping distance, he or she is protecting you, you are also protecting that person by keeping the same distance,” he said and warned that COVID-19 cases are spreading fast at the community level.