NAIROBI, Kenya July 9 – Kenya recorded 447 coronavirus cases Thursday, raising the caseload so far to 8,975.
The new cases were detected from 3,803 samples tested since Wednesday from various parts of the country.
“Today we have the highest number of cases ever since, we have 447 cases in the past 24 hours,” said Mutahi Kagwe, Kenya’s Health Cabinet Secretary, “everyone must take this matter very very seriously because you can see the cases are increasing by the day.”
Kenya is projecting its peak for the virus infections from August through to January, and has even declared schools closed until 2021 for safety reasons.
President Uhuru Kenyatta lifted travel restrictions to and from the capital Nairobi, the coastal city of Mombasa and Mandera in the northern part of the country Monday, but extended a night curfew until August 6 in a curfew approach following a surge in coronavirus cases in many parts of the country.
On Thursday, the Health CS said Kenya 173 fatalities had been recorded since March, after four more patients succumbed to the virus.
“But I am also glad to announce the discharge of 64 patients who have recovered from coronavirus,” he said. So far, 2,657 patients have recovered in the country.
All the 47 counties are under pressure to procure at least 300-bed capacity for isolation as the country moves closer to its projected peak.
“I am urging counties which have not complied with this directive to ensure it happens because coronavirus patients will not be moved from the counties to Nairobi,” Kagwe said.
Authorities have warned that hospitals countrywide are likely to be overwhelmed in the coming weeks, with reports already indicating that most COVID-19 patients are being sent advised to undertake home-based care.
About The Author
