Coronavirus (COVID19) Pandemic in Kenya: Four new cases reported as total of infected persons clock 42; Presser

Kenya has four new confirmed cases of coronavirus as at Sunday March 29, 2020. Of the new infections, one is Kenyan Kenyan and three foreigners. Kenya now has 42 confirmed cases.

Here is the full presser by Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe;

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UPDATE OF CORONAVIRUS IN THE COUNTRY AND RESPONSE MEASURES AS AT 29th MARCH, 2020

Fellow Kenyans,
Welcome to the daily update on the current status of Coronavirus disease outbreak in Kenya.
As of yesterday the global figures stood at 571, 678 of persons who have tested positive for Coronavirus while 26,494 have succumbed since the disease outbreak.

Yesterday alone within a period of 24 hours Italy reported 971 deaths while Spain recorded 769. The USA recorded a total of 16894 new cases with 252 deaths in a period of 24 hours.

This scenario reflects the possible outcomes we are likely to face if we are complacent with the measures the government has put in place.

In our situation, in the last twenty-four hours, a total of sixty nine (69) samples from suspected cases of Coronavirus have been analyzed in our various laboratories.
Out of the 69 samples we have received confirmation of four (4) people who have tested positive for the Coronavirus disease. They include one Kenyan and three foreigners from America, Cameroon and Burkina Faso. This now brings to 42 the number of those who have tested positive for the virus in Kenya.

All the four confirmed cases three are from Nairobi and one from Mombasa. Nairobi Country continues to lead with 31 cases of those who have so far tested positive, followed by Kilifi with six, Mombasa with three, while Kajiado and Kwale with one each. Out of the 42 positive cases, 24 are male while 18 are female.

Tracing of contacts for the 42 confirmed cases is ongoing. The total number of close contacts that we are monitoring stands at 1426. Out of this number, 215 have been discharged after completing the mandatory 14 day follow up period. Currently, our teams are monitoring 919 close contacts. We have 18 individuals admitted at Mbagathi Hospital awaiting test results.

To date we have tested 877 persons for the Coronavirus disease.
Today our medical teams have embarked on mass testing for all those persons who arrived in the country last week, and are currently under mandatory quarantine in various designated hotels and Government facilities. These tests are based on dates of arrival, it is important that suspects will remain in quarantine for the full duration. However those who test positive will be taken isolation facilities.

The exercise will continue until all those in the facilities are tested.
We want to appeal to all Kenyans to embrace this fight against coronavirus as opposed to assuming that it is a government affair, because it is not. It is very wrong for those who are misinforming the public on this matter.

For instance we have noted the misinformation doing the rounds in social media where a leader in this country is claiming there are over 7000 people in mandatory quarantine. This is not true.

For the record we have 2050 people currently in mandatory quarantine in all the hotels and government designated facilities. It is immoral and unethical for anyone more so a leader in the country to mislead people for whatever reasons they may have particularly with regard to the fight against Coronavirus.

Fellow Kenyans, we want to inform you that we are expanding our capacity for purposes of intervention measures particularly in the counties.
We want to thank the private sector and other donor communities, who are working with the government through the ministry of Trade and industry and have been able to provide products such as masks and Protective Personal Equipment (PPE). As government, we have plans to ensure that in the next few weeks, we are able to manufacture some of these materials locally for self sustainability.

We want to appeal to our people to observe the curfew as one of the measures aimed at curtailing the spread of the virus. However curfew alone does not eliminate the spread of the virus but it is to slow down the transmission.

In the same vein we are urging employers to release their employees early from their work stations, so that they can reach their homes in good time. In the event they do not allow their employees to leave early then they should be prepared to accommodate them at their own cost.

We want to reiterate that Cargo flights from all over the world are no restricted but only passenger flights.
As we conclude I want to reemphasize that hand washing is the best option to prevent the spread of the disease. I urge people to use soap and water as a first measure.”

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