Covid-19: Kenya records 550 new cases, death toll of 3,872
A health worker uses a nasal swab to collect a sample during a Covid-19 mass testing exercise in Kawangware slum, Nairobi, on May 1, 2020.
What you need to know:
- By Monday, 1,324 patients had been admitted to health facilities across the country while 3,688 had been registered under the home-based isolation and care programme.
Kenya on Monday recorded 550 new Covid-19 cases from a sample size of 4,087 tested in the last 24 hours, marking a positivity rate of 13.5 percent.
In a statement issued on Monday, the Ministry of Health said the number of confirmed infections since the first one last March was 197,959 and that a total of 2,097,101 had been carried out.
Of the new patients, 528 were Kenyans and 22 foreigners, 284 female and 266 male, the youngest being 10 months old and the oldest 93.
Of the 550 new cases, Nairobi accounted for 394, Kiambu 38, Nakuru 33, Kilifi 24, Uasin Gishu 10, Murang’a and Kajiado eight each, Machakos seven, Busia and Kakamega four each, and Kitui three.
Taita Taveta, Kirinyaga, Nandi and Narok followed with two new infections each while Nyeri, Siaya, Tharaka Nithi, Trans Nzoia, Elgeyo Marakwet, Makueni, Meru, Mombasa and Homa Bay had one each.
Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe further announced that seven more deaths, all of them late reports confirmed after the audit of facility records in July, raising the toll to 3,872.
CS Kagwe further said that 786 more patients had recovered from the disease 738 at home and 48 in hospital, raising the total to 186,594.
By Monday, 1,324 patients had been admitted to health facilities across the country while 3,688 had been registered under the home-based isolation and care programme.
Of those in hospital, 172 were under intensive care, 37 of them on ventilator support, 84 on supplemental oxygen and 51 under observation.
Another 398 patients were separately on supplemental oxygen, 352 of them in general wards and 46 in high dependency units.
On the ongoing vaccination exercise, the ministry said a total of 1,672,687 doses had been administered across the country by Monday - 1,047,592 first doses and 625,680 second doses.
The uptake rate of the second dose was 59.7 percent, with the majority of the recipients being males (55 percent), while the proportion of adults fully vaccinated was 2.3 percent.
Among those who had received their second doses were 194,987 people aged 58 years and above, 110,978 health workers, 89,611 teachers, 49,704 security officers and 180,400 ungrouped individuals.
Meanwhile, the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in Africa reached 6,475,582 as of Monday afternoon, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said.
The Africa CDC, the specialised healthcare agency of the African Union, said the death toll from the pandemic stood at 164,383 while 5,674,552 patients across the continent had recovered from the disease.
South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Ethiopia were the countries with the most cases in the continent, according to the Africa CDC.
South Africa had recorded the most Covid-19 cases in Africa, at 2,377, 823, while the northern African country Morocco reported 579,272 cases as of Monday, it was noted.
In terms of the caseload, southern Africa was the most affected region, followed by the northern and eastern parts of the continent, while central Africa was the least affected region in the continent, according to the Africa CDC.
