NAIROBI, Kenya, May 30 -Kenya recorded 17 new COVID-19 deaths Saturday, among them 15 which were late reports, and 2 that occurred since Friday pushing fatalities to 3,141.
Kagwe said the variants had been detected in 39 samples from Kenyans who had no travel history.
He pointed out that 28 samples had the Indian variant while six had the UK variant. One sample had the South African variant. Four had variants from the two countries.
The CS further expressed concerns of one novel sample that had both the UK and Indian variant which he points out has significant public health implications.
“It is important to note that the ongoing genomic surveillance has revealed early and established community transmission of both UK and Indian variants of concern in Kisumu, Mombasa and Kisumu Counties,” he said.
People who got their first COVID-19 vaccine dose started receiving their second dose on Friday.
“In keeping with the recommendations of the World Health Organization, second dose is administered after 12 weeks so people who are due have received a message as a reminder which is being sent 48 hours to when one is supposed to go for their second jab,” said Dr. Willis Akhwale, the Chairperson of the Vaccine Taskforce.