NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 1 –The Ministry of Health reported eleven deaths within 24 hours lapsing on January 1, raising coronavirus-linked fatalities documented in the country since April to 1,681.
Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe, during his first briefing on the pandemic in 2021, said another 156 people tested positive for coronavirus from 4,317 samples tested within the reported period.
The new figure increased the cumulative cases reported in the country since March 14 to 96,614.
The coronavirus positivity rate stood at 3.6 percent as the country ushered in the new year, slightly below the 5 per cent World Health Organisation (WHO) threshold for manageable levels.
Kagwe noted that another 65 patients had recovered from the disease including four who were under home-based care raising the total recoveries to 78,802.
The health ministry said there were 661 patients being managed in various health facilities and another 2,960 who were on home-based isolation and care.
Fourteen of the patients in the Intensive Care Unit were on ventilator support, eleven on supplemental oxygen while three others were under observation.
“Another 19 patients are separately on supplementary oxygen and 19 others are in the general wards,” MoH said in a statement shared to newsrooms.
Kagwe urged Kenyans to adhere to the containment measures set in order to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease.
“May I remind Kenyans that the disease is not defeated and we must adhere to the containment measures stipulated by the Ministry of Health,” he said.
