Kenya’s Covid positivity rate at 9.4pc as cases rise by 341

Health CS Mutahi Kagwe

Health CS Mutahi Kagwe giving updates on the Covid-19 status in the country at Afya House, Nairobi on May 27, 2021.

Photo credit: Lucy Wanjiru | Nation Media Group

The number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in Kenya on Thursday rose by 341 to 169,697, following the analysis of 3,646 samples.

This resulted in a positivity rate of 9.4 per cent, the Health ministry said in a statement, adding that the country had conducted at least 1,796,585 tests.

Of the new patients, 329 were Kenyans and 12 foreigners, 174 male and 167 female, with the youngest bneing a two-month-old infant while the oldest was 101 years.

Kisumu County led with 157 new cases followed by Nairobi with 48, Siaya 36, Mombasa and Kericho 22 cases each, Kirinyaga 19, Homa Bay 14, Nyamira 12, Kilifi, Bungoma and Nandi 9 cases each, Migori, Kiambu and Kisii 8 cases each, Nakuru 7, Uasin Gishu and Meru 6 cases each, Kakamega, Murang’a and Nyeri 5 cases each, Bomet, Vihiga, Wajir and Trans Nzoia 4 cases each, Tharaka Nithi 3, Machakos 2, Turkana, Isiolo, Kajiado, Kitui and Tana River 1 case each.

The deadly virus was first confirmed in Wuhan, China on December 31, 2019 while Kenya reported its first case on March 13, 2020.

11 new deaths

Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe, in his statement to newsrooms Thursday, further reported 11 new deaths. He said all of them were late death reports after facility record audits. The fatalities in the country now stand at 3,108.

CS Kagwe also announced that 144 more people have recovered from the disease, 96 of them under home-based isolation and care and 48 in hospital. This brought the total number of recoveries in the country to 115,988.

Mr Kagwe added that as of Thursday, 1,067 patients were hospitalised in various hospitals countrywide while 4,680 were being treated at home.

Of those in hospital, 104 were in intensive care units (ICU), 20 of whom being on ventilator support, 68 on supplemental oxygen and 24 patients under observation.

Another 89 patients were separately on supplemental oxygen, 82 of them in general wards and seven in high dependency units (HDU).

In terms of vaccination, a total of 963,241 persons had taken the jab by last Sunday, among them 292,001 people aged 58 years and above.