NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 20 – Three community level COVID-19 deaths were among ten fatalities reported by the Ministry of Health on Thursday, raising the national death toll to 516 which translates to 1.6 per cent fatality rate.
The ministry said the three of those who succumbed to the virus were aged below 30.
“Three of those who died are below 30 years which means there is a problem when it comes to seeking health care among the young population,” stated Health CAS Mercy Mwangangi.
The CAS also reported 257 more patients had recovered from the disease, raising the total number of recoveries recorded since April to 17,869.
The recoveries included 195 patients under the home-based care program while 62 others were discharged from various health facilities.
The number of registered COVID-19 cases in the country rose to 31,441 after 426 new cases were reported within 24 hours.
The cases included nine foreigners.
The youngest case was a three month-old infant while the oldest was 88 years. Males accounted for the highest number of infections at 239 compared to 187 females.
The cases were distributed across the counties of Nairobi (132), Kajiado (63), Kericho (48), Kiambu (24), Machakos (21), Migori (17), Mombasa (16), Kitui (13), Laikipia (13), Nakuru (11), Kisumu (11), Uasin Gishu (10), Tharaka Nithi (8), Nyeri (7), Busia (7), Makueni (6), Kilifi (4), Garissa (3), Nyandarua (3), Isiolo (2), Embu (2), Meru (1), Kirinyanga (1), Kakamega (1), Baringo (1) and Lamu (1).
To date, a total of 407,610 COVID-19 tests have been conducted in the country.
The country’s infection rate was reported at 7.9 per cent, having steadily increased over a period of 34 weeks from an initial 2 per cent during the initial phase of the outbreak.
