Kenya's confirmed Covid cases increase by 511 to 245,337
Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe speaks at Ng'undu-Kamulu Level 3 Hospital in Ruai, Nairobi County, on September 16, 2021.
Kenya on Thursday recorded 511 new Covid-19 cases from a sample of 7,955 tested in the last 24 hours, raising its number of confirmed cases to 245,337.
The positivity rate stood at 6.4 per cent, down from the seven per cent recorded on Wednesday, while the number of tests conducted so far rose to 2,478,820.
Of the new patients, 488 were Kenyans and 23 foreigners, 263 male and 248 female, the youngest one year old and the oldest 99 years.
Nairobi County accounted for 137 of the new patients, Nakuru 40, Nyandarua 36, Kiambu 35, Kisii 28, Embu 21, Machakos 20, Makueni 17, Meru 17, Kericho 16, Kajiado 15, Tharaka Nithi 14, Mombasa, Laikipia and Murang’a 12 each, Kitui 11 and Uasin Gishu nine.
Kakamega followed with six cases, Baringo, Bomet, Narok and Turkana five each, Marsabit four, Tana River, Kirinyaga, Bungoma, Busia and Nandi three each, Kisumu, Lamu, Trans Nzoia, Nyeri and Siaya two each, and Wajir, Elgeyo Marakwet, Kilifi and Migori one each.
12 more deaths
In a statement to media houses, Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe announced 12 more deaths, all of them late reports from the audit of facility records in March, April May, July, August and September, raising the toll to 4,961.
CS Kagwe also said another 278 patients had recovered from the disease, 105 of them at home and 168 in hospital, raising the number to 235,469.
As of Thursday, 1,483 patients had been hospitalised with Covid-19 countrywide while 3,323 were being treated at home.
Of the admitted patients, 121 were under intensive care, 85 of them on ventilator support, 28 on supplemental oxygen and eight under observation.
Another 564 patients were separately on supplemental oxygen, 564 of them in general wards and 42 in high dependency units.
According to CS Kagwe, a total of 3,241,751 vaccines doses have been administered across the country - 2,397,621 first doses and 844,110 second doses.
The uptake rate of the second dose on Thursday stood at 35 per cent, with the majority of the recipients being male (55 per cent), while the proportion of adults fully vaccinated was 3.1 per cent.
Africa summary
Meanwhile, the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in Africa reached 8,079,618 as of Wednesday afternoon, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said.
The Africa CDC, the specialised healthcare agency of the African Union, in its continental Covid-19 dashboard also indicated that the death toll from the pandemic across the continent stood at 204,874.
In total 7,383,007 patients across the continent had recovered from the disease, it was noted. Figures from the Africa CDC showed that African countries had conducted 69,439,214 Covid-19 tests.
South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya and Ethiopia were among the countries with the most cases in the continent, according to the agency.
In terms of the caseload, southern Africa is 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.
