Covid-19: Kenya's cases rise to 234 as nine more test positive

President Uhuru Kenyatta issues an address on enhanced measures in response to the Covid-19 Pandemic from State House in Nairobi on April 6, 2020. PHOTO | PSCU 

In Summary

• President Kenyatta said this raised the total number of confirmed cases in Kenya, since the virus was first reported on March 13, to 234.
• He said the number of recoveries remained 53, as announced by Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe in the daily update on Wednesday and that the number of deaths had risen to 11.

By NATION REPORTER
More by this Author

President Uhuru Kenyatta on Thursday updated the country on the Covid-19 disease in the country, saying nine more people had tested positive for the virus.

President Kenyatta said this raised the total number of confirmed cases in Kenya, since the virus was first reported on March 13, to 234.

He said the number of recoveries remained 53, as announced by Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe in the daily update on Wednesday and that the number of deaths had risen to 11.

The President said the nine new patients were among 704 people who were tested in the last 24 hours.

He also announced that nearly 1,000 people were under quarantine while at least 156 were in isolation facilities.

TESTING CAPACITY

Meanwhile, Kenya received nearly 40,000 testing kits on Wednesday amid steps to increase its testing capacity in line with the three-fold approach of testing, isolating and treating.

The Health ministry announced on Wednesday that the country had received 18,900 swabs and viral transport medium, 18,912 extraction kits, 3,790 disposable protective clothing for medical workers, thermometer guns, medical gloves and ventilation machines from Chinese businessman Jack Ma of the Alibaba Group.

The minister said Kenya had also received consignments of gloves, face shields, gowns and surgical masks from China, France and Germany through the World Health Organization (WHO).

STATISTICS

The coronavirus was first reported in Wuhan, China, on December 31, 2019.

Since then, it has quickly spread across the world and infected at least 2,096,573 people, according to Worldometer's tally on April 16.

The total number of deaths was 135,662 and that of recoveries 523,322 as of April 16, while the number of active cases stood at 1,437,589 with 96 per cent of the conditions being mild and the rest - 51,042 - critical.

Worldometer's count showed that the number of closed cases was 658,984, 79 per cent or 523,322 of which was the number of recoveries.

In Africa, the number of infections was 18,082 and the deaths 915.

More to follow