Covid 19 infections in the country continues to register an upward curve over the last three successive days after Health officials reported another triple digit figure of fresh positive cases in a span of 24 hours.
Health Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) Dr. Mercy Mwangang told the nation during the daily briefing on the status of the pandemic that another 127 people sampled for screening tested positive to the highly contagious disease.
She said the new infections now brings the national tally to 1745 after the nation recorded triple digit figures three days in a row raising fears over the extent of infections in the country.
The worrying trend comes after the country reported 123 fresh infection on Wednesday and 147 on Thursday
Dr. Mwangang however attributed the rising figures to the increased size of sampling taken lately sa the fresh infection were sorted out of 3,831 samples picked for testing.
She gave the breakdown of the detected positive samples saying Nairobi had (76, Mombasa (19), Busia (16), Uasin Gishu (8), Kiambu (2), Kajiado (5) and Isiolo (1).
“The high figures that have been recorded in the last few days are as a result of high increase in sample size but also shows that that the virus is firmly in our midst” she said.
She noted that this however can be stopped if all cooperate by adhering to restrictions and practice containment measures advocated for by the Ministry of Health.
“We have observed a worrisome trend where some individuals are using unofficial routes (panya routes), to get in and out of the restricted areas. I want to remind such people that Nairobi and Mombasa are currently the Counties with the highest number of infections and sneaking out of these areas is equivalent to sneaking the virus into the other counties”, Dr. Mwangangi said.
The CAS cautioned those engaged in this practice that the arm of the law will catch up with them but also appealed to people in the other counties to be vigilant and report to the police anybody who may have recently travelled from Nairobi or Mombasa.
The distribution of cases by sub counties, the CAS said that in Nairobi, Kibra recorded (49), Ruaraka (13), Makadara (4), Westlands (4), Langata (2), Embakasi West (1), Kasarani (1), Dagoretti North (1) and Starehe (1).
In Mombasa, the cases are from; Kisauni (7), Mvita (6), Nyali (3), Likoni (2) and Jomvu (1).
Out of the 16 cases in Busia, (8) are at Busia, (2) at Malaba Points of Entry, and (6) at Alupe Quarantine Facility.
The cases in Uasin Gishu are all from Turbo, while in Kajiado, the cases are from Kajiado North (2) and Namanga Border (3).
In Kiambu, the two cases are from Kiambu Town (1) and Kabete (1) while the case in Isiolo is from Isiolo Town.
Dr. Mwangangi said the government has equally noted a cavalier attitude in some people in various estates, particularly here in Nairobi who have thrown caution to the wind and behaving like life is back to normal
“Containment measures have been discarded in matatus, boda bodas, supermarkets, banks among others. I want to remind our people that our situation has not stabilized”, she said .
As numbers continue to rise, the CAS however ntoed that today there were 17 patients who were discharged bringing the total number of recoveries to 148.
On a sad note, she noted that 4 more patients from Mombasa have succumbed to the disease and all of them had an underlying condition.
She acknowledged that many people are now turning out for the targeted testing saying this is encouraging since it is the only way of knowing where the virus is .
The CS however cautioned those whose tests are coming back negative not to relax saying this is not a ticket to ignore the containment measures as one can very easily contract the virus immediately after a negative test
Giving a breakdown of reported figures daily, Dr. Patrick Amoth, the Ag. Director General Ministry of Health said sometimes it has become a challenge when reporting cases because of multiple tests but said that to be able to avoid confusion, they have revised templates to ensure information is captured in real time
“With community transmission battle now shifting from Nairobi and Mombasa, a significant of 32 counties have recorded cases and we want to capture the data real time so the figures can add up”, Dr. Amoth added.
By Wangari Ndirangu
Covid 19 Infections Hit Triple Digit Again
