Kenya’s COVID-19 cases pass 28,000 amid steady recovery

NAIROBI,

Kenya's total number of COVID-9 cases surpassed 28,000 on Wednesday amid steady increase in the number of recoveries, the Ministry of Health said.

Mercy Mwangangi, chief administrative secretary in the Ministry of Health, confirmed 679 new infections across the country in the last 24 hours, bringing the total caseload to 28,104.

Mwangangi said the latest infections consisting of 658 Kenyan nationals and 21 foreign nationals are from 6,590 samples screened between Tuesday and Wednesday.

She said 743 patients were discharged from health facilities and home-based care programs, bringing the total number of recoveries to 14,610.

She said that 18 patients succumbed to the disease in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of deaths to 456.

Mwangangi revealed that out of the 18 deaths, 15 died from underline conditions such as hypertension, diabetes and asthma while three died from unknown conditions.

Amongst the dead is a senior health official at the Kenya Medical Research Institute, an institution that carries out COVID-19 tests.

Rudi Eggers, World Health Organization Kenya country representative, said that the latest spike in infections in the country is worrying.

Eggers attributed the increase to laxity by populations who do not follow the ministry of health guidelines including wearing masks, social distancing and hand washing.

The east African nation has so far tested a cumulative number of 369,091 samples since the pandemic was reported on March 13. (Xinhua)