Twenty three more Covid 19 patients died of the disease making it the highest ever fatalities recorded in a day since the pandemic was reported in the country .
Health Cabinet Secretary, Mutahi Kagwe while giving an update on the status of the pandemic said the latest fatalities now bring to 364 the number of people who have succumbed to the highly infectious disease.
“It is sad, we have lost a 16 year old today and we now know that we are increasingly losing younger people to the disease and I want to urge youth to desist from socializing even at their homes and avoid gatherings.
He also said the resumption of International flights was a welcome move but must be treated with caution to avert spread of the disease adding that the national carrier the Kenya Airways had put measures to address the issue.
He said sensitization and capacity building initiatives were rolled out to the airport staff to ensure that Covid 19 protocols and other related safety guidelines were observed
“I want to encourage stakeholders to play their part to ensure success of this exercise, travelers should cooperate with the laid down measures by the Ministry of Health “, he said during the press briefing at the JKIA.
Kagwe noted that airport staff have been trained on any emergency procedures, sanitation structures are in place all around the airport, protective screens put up and installed technology surveillance is in place,
“I want to seek indulgence of Kenyans and appeal to all to take duty with respect and care and also concern as this are not normal times”, he said adding that air space is opening up at a time when given the circumstances it would be closing.
We need to adopt to the new normal and we don’t know when the virus will go away, Kagwe said adding that there is a limit on how much one can contain themselves and confirming that in the five months Kenyans have been taught and they believe that passengers and travelers alike are aware of the risks.
Giving todays COVID 19 statistics, CS Kagwe said that 727 people have tested positive for COVID 19 after 6,371 samples tested in the last 24 hours bringing now the number of positive in the country to 21,363 and pushing our cumulative tests to 310,330.
From the cases 696 are Kenyans, while 31 are foreigners, and 465 males and 262 females and the youngest case is 1 year old, while the oldest is 92 years old.
“, Kagwe said ,
Positively, the CS however noted that 254 patients have recovered from the disease and from this number 88 are from the Home based Care program while 166 have been discharged from various hospitals, bringing the total number of recoveries to 8,419.
The distribution of the cases today by counties has seen Nairobi recording he highest number of cases at 470 followed by Kiambu 64, Kajiado 25, Kirinyaga 20, Mombasa 16, Migori 15, Busia 13, Machakos 12, Laikipia 11, Kisumu 9, Nakuru 9 Muranga 9, Siaya 7, Nyeri 7, Narok 5, Nyandarua 5, Isiolo 4, Nandi 4, , Garissa 3, Meru 2, Bomet 2, Homa Bay 2, Kwale 1, Kisii 1, Kilifi 1, Bungoma 1, and Samburu 1.
Transport and Housing Cabinet Secretary James Macharia said the country has already witnessed departures since morning and that 787 Boeing departed to Heathrow London in the morning, there were departures also in Dubai, Addis Ababa, Kigali and Dakar.
He added that the country expected arrivals today from British Airways, KLM from Amsterdam, and Lufthansa airlines from Germany.
On the Tanzania banning of Kenya airways flight controversy just because it was left out of the named countries that will be allowed to enter the country through flight resumption today, CS Macharia said the two countries had already resolved the travel issue and soon the flights will resume.
“I have had extensive discussions with my counterpart from Tanzania and indeed there is no misunderstanding, Kenya has never banned flights to any country and our resumption of the 19 destinations was arrived following the health protocols and I want to tell you by the end of the day the advisory given to Tanzania civil aviation authority will be reversed in regards to the flights”, he said
“Only 19 countries and destinations have been listed as exempt out of 180 that have been in place and this is due to the gaps in COVID 19 assessment done, so we cannot only discuss one particular country”, CS Macharia said
By Wangari Ndirangu
