NAIROBI, Kenya Apr 1 – 14 people succumbed to coronavirus on Thursday raising the total number of virus-related fatalities in the country to 2, 167.
Health Chief Administrative Secretary Rashid Aman said an additional 984 COVID-19 infections were recorded in the country raising the caseload to 135, 042 this as the country’s positivity rate now stands at 18.5 percent.
“Defeat is not an option. We must win this war. We are greatly encouraged by the majority of our people who have personally taken up the initiative to ensure the spread of the virus is curtailed,” he said.
Aman said 196, 435 Kenyans have so far been vaccinated against the virus.
“We should not lower our guard because some of us have gotten the jab. Let us continue to adhere to the Ministry of Health protocols,” he said.
Frontline health care workers top the list of those who have been vaccinated at 74, 698 followed by security officers at 14, 364 and teachers at 24, 615.
Aman revealed that the government expects at least 20 million doses of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine this year. 2.5 million doses of the vaccine are expected to arrive in the country next month.
“This consignment will go a long way in boosting our vaccination exercise in the second phase of this programme which will see more Kenyans receive the jab,” he said.
The government aims to have vaccinated 26 million Kenyans by June, 2022.
The government has since issued a warning to health care workers who are charging for the COVID-19 vaccines in health facilities. Those found risk losing their licenses.
President Uhuru Kenyatta on Thursday assured that anyone who has received the first short will get the second one which is required to be administered after three months.
“No Kenyan will miss their second jab. My administration has everything in control,” he said.
The Head of State last week imposed a lockdown in the capital Nairobi and four other counties in measures aimed at containing the rising infections of COVID-19.
President Uhuru Kenyatta said the counties of Nairobi, Machakos, Kiambu, Kajiado and Nakuru are COVID-19 infected regions which require tough restrictions after the third wave swept the country with unprecedented infections and deaths since February.
“That fully conscious that 70% of Kenya’s reported cases of COVID-19 have been recorded in the Counties of Nairobi, Kajiado, Machakos, Kiambu and Nakuru, those Counties are individually and collectively declared a disease infected area,” Kenyatta declared.
And he ordered bars to remain closed in the affected counties with restaurants only allowed to have take-aways.
He said the action was prompted by the rise in coronavirus infections which had shot up ten times higher in the past one month.
Further, Kenyatta revised the dusk to dawn curfew hours in the five counties which will now start at 8pm to 4 am.