A record 80 people were confirmed infected with Covid 19 in a span of 24 hours as the country scaled up daily testing capacity by at least 40%.
Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe said the new infections were detected from a sample size of 3102 people, the largest ever taken since the testing were scaled up a fortnight ago.
He expressed fears over the rising infections figures in the country after the testing exercise were escalated but encouraged the public and medics to be vigilant in the war against the pandemic.
Addressing the nation during the daily update on the status of the pandemic, Kagwe said it was a worrying trend that the more people were tested the more infection figures were recorded, an indication that the disease was widely spread at community levels.
“Today, we have recorded the highest number yet again at 80 from a sample size of 3,102. This is the largest sample size tested so far. The trend demonstrates that the larger the sample size, the more the positive cases”, he said
The CAS noted that today’s positive cases now brings to 1,109 the total number of those who have tested positive in the country, and the cumulative samples tested is so far 52,507. Seventy-seven (77) of the cases are Kenyan Nationals, while three (3) are Somalis.
The spread of the virus he explained that Nairobi has recorded 41 cases , followed by Mombasa which has 20, Siaya has recorded 7, Kwale 6, Garissa 3, Kajiado 2 and Taita Taveta 1.
Within the estates, Kagwe said the cases are distributed in Nairobi area of Kibera (13), Westlands (9), Langata (5), Ruaraka (3), Embakasi West (2), Embakasi East (2), Kasarani (2), Starehe (2), Dagoretti North (2) and Dagoretti South (1).
In Mombasa area, Mvita has (6), Jomvu (5), Likoni (4), Changamwe (3) and Kisauni (2).
In Siaya, all the Seven (7) cases are from Ugenya while in In Kwale, the six (6) cases are in Msambweni (5) and Matuga (1).
In Garissa, the three cases are from Ifo camp (2) and Hagadera Camp (1) and In Kajiado, the two cases are from Kajiado central, while the one case in Taita Taveta County was that of a truck driver.
In terms of age, the cases range from six (6) months for the youngest to 66 years for the oldest. And the distribution by gender is 53 males and 27 females.
At the same time, CS Kagwe explained that there were another 40 individuals who tested positive from the virus, all of them truck drivers and that out of the 40 cases, 39 are Tanzanians and one Burundian.
“They were tested at border points of Namanga (25), Lungalunga (6), Taveta (5) and Isebania (4 and were all referred back to Tanzania.”, he said .
Even as our cases continue to rise, the CS noted that there were 9 discharged patients from hospital, bringing the total number of those who have so far recovered to 375 while our fatality number still stands at 50.
“The numbers suggest that our border points have become hot spots for the disease. This must be mitigated. I therefore want to appeal to all our people residing at border counties, and those at points of entry to be more vigilant and to utilize the Nyumba Kumi initiative to help in community policing”, the CS reiterated.
Further, he added that all Government officials at all Points of Entry, such as customs, port health, security, immigration among others have been advised to take COVID-19 test because they are at the frontline and vulnerable to contracting the infection.
Kagwe emphasized that the war on Covid 19 cannot be won by the government alone but by collective effort from each and every one.
He thanked . different individuals and organizations for the tremendous support and particularly thanked the Ministry of Agriculture through the National Cereals and Produce Board, for their kind donation of foodstuffs to be distributed to Kenyans who have been adversely impacted by the coronavirus situation.
By Wangari Ndirangu
