Kenya's Covid-19 cases increase by 218 to 179,293

Covid vaccination at KNH

A banner outside Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) in Nairobi on March 5, 2021 notifies members of the public of free vaccination against Covid-19.
 

Photo credit: Jeff Angote | Nation Media Group

What you need to know:

  • In a statement, Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe also announced five more deaths, which raised the toll to 3,461.

Kenya on Monday recorded 218 more Covid-19 cases, following the analysis of 2,577 samples in 24 hours, raising its number of confirmed infections to 179,293.

This resulted in a positivity rate of 8.5 percent, the Health ministry said, adding at least 1,907,096 tests had been conducted since the pandemic first struck the country in March 2020.

Of the new patients, 206 were Kenyans and 12 foreigners, 117 male and 101 female, the youngest seven months old and the oldest 85.

Nairobi County accounted for 119 of the new patients, Siaya 26, Kisii 20, Uasin Gishu 15, Homa Bay 10, Nakuru six, Kajiado and Kakamega four each, Makueni and Nyandarua two each, and Migori, Mombasa, Nandi, Vihiga, Bomet, Kericho, Kiambu, Kisumu, Laikipia and Machakos one each.

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Five more deaths

In a statement, Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe also announced five more deaths, which raised the toll to 3,461.

He explained that only one of the deaths took place in the past 24 hours while the rest were late death reports confirmed after the audit of facility records in April and June.

CS Kagwe further announced that 261 patients had recovered from the disease, 167 under home-based care and 94 in hospitals countrywide, raising the total to  122,965.

As of Monday, 1,074 patients had been admitted countrywide while 5,638 were being treated at home.

Of those in hospital, 103 were under intensive care, 33 of them on ventilator support, 51 on supplemental oxygen and 19 under observation.

Another 118 patients were separately on supplemental oxygen, 108 of them in general wards and 10 in high dependency units.

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As of Monday, a total of 1,187,663 vaccine doses had been administered across the country, with first doses numbering 995,570 and second doses numbering 192,093.

The rate of the uptake of the second dose among those who had received their first one was 19.3 percent while the proportion of fully vaccinated adults was 0.74 percent.

By Monday, among those who have received their second doses were 52,830 health workers, 52,041 people aged 58 years and above, 22,189 teachers, 14,020 security officers and 51,463 ungrouped people.

Africa summary

The number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in Africa reached 5,208,206 as of Monday noon, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said.

The Africa CDC, the specialised healthcare agency of the 55-member African Union, said the death toll from the pandemic stood at 137,600 while 4,620,442 patients across the continent had recovered from the disease.

South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, Ethiopia and Egypt were the countries with the most cases in the continent, according to the Africa CDC.

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South Africa had recorded the highest Covid-19 cases in Africa at 1,823,319 while the northern African country Morocco reported 526,651 cases as of Monday.

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.