1,048 more Covid-19 cases in Kenya as death toll rises to 1,349

Health CS Mutahi Kagwe

Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe gives an update on the Covid-19 pandemic in Kenya at Afya House in Nairobi on November 16, 2020.

Photo credit: Dennis Onsongo | Nation Media Group

What you need to know:

  • CS Kagwe further reported a death toll of 1,349, saying 19 more patients had succumbed to the virus.
  • He said 1,114 patients were in hospitals countrywide, 52 of them in intensive care units (ICU), and that 6,332 were in the home-based care programme.

Kenya's Covid-19 caseload on Friday rose by 1,048 to 75,193, Health CS Mutahi Kagwe announced, saying 8,660 samples were tested in the last 24 hours.

Cabinet Secretary Kagwe further reported that the number of recovered patients had increased by 326 to 50,984, 219 of them having been treated at home and 107 in hospital.

He said 1,114 patients were in hospitals countrywide, 52 of them in intensive care units (ICU), and that 6,332 were in the home-based care programme.

Of the 52 in ICU, 24 were on ventilatory support and 24 on supplemental oxygen. Another 71 patients were on supplemental oxygen but in the general wards (70) and high dependency units (one).

CS Kagwe further reported a death toll of 1,349, saying 19 more patients had succumbed to the virus.

County reports

The 8,660 samples raised the number tested in Kenya since March, when the country recorded its first covid-19 case, to 823,700.

Of the 1,048 new patients, 1,018 were Kenyans and 30 foreigners.

Males numbered 594 and females 454 whereas the youngest was a year old and the oldest 90.

Nairobi County, Kenya's epicentre, accounted for 408 of the cases, Kericho 84, Mombasa 80, Kiambu 71 and Busia 52.

They were followed by Migori with 36, Uasin Gishu 35, Kisumu and Machakos 25 each, Kajiado 23, Siaya 18, Bungoma 15, Kakamega 14, Nakuru 13, Taita Taveta 12 and Bomet, Makueni and Nyeri 11 each.

Then came Kilifi and Laikipia with 10 new cases each, Baringo, Nandi and Kwale with nine each, Meru eight, Vihiga six, Murang'a, West Pokot, Mandera and Kitui five each, Kirinyaga four, Trans Nzoia and Embu three each, and Elgeyo Marakwet, Narok, Tharaka Nithi, Garissa and Tana River two each.

Homa Bay, Turkana and Nyamira each had only one new case of the disease.