Kenya's Covid-19 toll rises to 179 as seven more test positive

In Summary

• Health Chief Administrative Secretary, Dr Mercy Mwangangi, told a press conference on Wednesday that all the new patients were Kenyans.
• The ministry further said 178 of the confirmed cases had been mild or moderatE

By NASIBO KABALE
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The Health ministry has announced seven more confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Kenya, raising

the country's official toll to 179.

Health Chief Administrative Secretary, Dr Mercy Mwangangi, told a press conference on Wednesday that all the new patients were Kenyans.

Five were found through surveillance while two had been quarantined, Dr Mwangangi said, adding five of the cases were recorded in Nairobi and one each in Mombasa and Uasin Gishu counties.

Four of the new patients, who were among 305 people tested in the last 24 hours, had a history of travel.

The ministry further said 178 of the confirmed cases had been mild or moderate.

HOME CARE

Dr Mwangangi said majority of the 179 cases were either mild or moderate and that home-based care would be considered for the patients.

"Families should apply for permits. This will be communicated to the Interior ministry," she said.

Regarding testing, she said all laboratories should follow protocols and that private facilities should report all their testing to the government.

Dr Mwangangi further noted that majority of the new positive cases were of people under quarantine.

"As we deploy mass testing we will see [an increase] in the number of cases. We will confirm this in the next few days," she said.

On reports of fears of mass coronavirus infections among members of Parliament, the ministry said it was aware of this but that "we have no formal cases".

PREVIOUS UPDATE

In the daily update on Tuesday, Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe announced that the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Kenya had risen to 172.

CS Kagwe told the public to brace for more cases and stricter measures to arrest the spread.

The number of patients is expected to shoot up drastically as mass testing of all employees in hospitals and quarantine centres starts.

The Covid-19 disease has killed at least 83,257 people worldwide since it was first reported in Wuhan, China, on December 31, 2019.

At least 1,445,911 infections and 309,113 recoveries have been reported globally, according to Worldometer's count on Wednesday.