NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 24 – The coronavirus situation in Kenya kept a 16.5 percent positivity rate Wednesday in the third wave of the pandemic that has claimed many lives and infected thousands more.
Health Chief Administrative Secretary Mercy Mwangangi said 1,540 more people had tested positive from tests conducted on Tuesday in various parts of the country.
In releasing the new statistics, Mwangangi said 18 people succumbed to the virus pushing fatalities to 2,066.
“Out of this, one has occurred during the last 24 hours while 17 are late death reports from facility record death audit,” she said.
Nairobi County registered highest cases at 866, followed by Nakuru at 139, Machakos 82, Kiambu 76, Kajiado 42, Uasin Gishu 36, Turkana 33, Mombasa 29, Kericho and Kisumu 20 cases each.
“Nairobi’s contribution to the positivity is staggering and stands at close to 57.7 percent and that is very high and disheartening. It would be irresponsible for us to sit back and watch the situation deteriorate further. Unless this trend is arrested, we may have no alternative but to take more stringent measures as necessary to protect the lives of our people,” Mwangangi said.
By Wednesday afternoon, 1,073 patients were admitted in various hospitals across the country with 141 in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and 99 on supplemental oxygen, the ministry said.
However, 184 patients were discharged after recovering from the virus among them 95 from home based care and 89 from health facilities across the country bringing recoveries to 90, 770.
The Ministry of Health said it plans to scale up the COVID-19 vaccination for AstraZeneca and has called on more Kenyans to turn up. The inoculation is initially targetting healthcare workers.
The ministry’s Head of Immunization Programme Dr.Collins Tabu said vaccines have a short shelf life and therefore, require to be utilized on time.
“Once we scale up the vaccination, I hope and believe that more Kenyans will get the jab before the end of next month when we receive the next shipment. Normally, flu vaccinations have short shelf life and it is important that Kenyans come out in large numbers to be vaccinated,” Tabu said.
Tabu further pointed out that apart from frontline workers, the Ministry will also ensure that the elderly and those living with underlying conditions will be vaccinated.
Kenya has so far vaccinated more than 40,000 people from the 1.02 million vaccines acquired through the COVAX facility.
