Source: Ministry of Health, Kenya |

Coronavirus - Kenya: COVID-19 numbers go up as government intensify testing Nairobi, Friday May 29, 2020

The announcement was made by the Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS), Health, Dr. Mercy Mwangangi

This can be stopped if all cooperate by adhering to restrictions and practice containment measures advocated for by the Ministry of Health

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 30, 2020/APO Group/ --

Kenya has recorded 127 positive cases of COVID 19, out of 3,831 samples tested in the last 24 hours bringing the total number of positive cases to 1745.

These cases are spread in Nairobi (76), Mombasa (19), Busia (16), Uasin Gishu (8), Kiambu (2), Kajiado (5) and Isiolo (1).

The announcement was made by the Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS), Health, Dr. Mercy Mwangangi who said the high numbers are as a result of the increase in the sample size and also a show that the virus is firmly in our midst.

“This can be stopped if all cooperate by adhering to restrictions and practice containment measures advocated for by the Ministry of Health,” he said.

She noted that “We have observed a worrisome trend where some individuals are using unofficial routes, to get in and out of the restricted areas. I want to remind such people that Nairobi and Mombasa are currently the Counties with the highest number of infections and sneaking out of these areas is equivalent to sneaking the virus into the other counties.”

She appealed to the people in the other counties to be vigilant and report to the police anybody who may have recently travelled from Nairobi or Mombasa.

In Nairobi, Kibra has the highest cases at (49), Ruaraka (13), Makadara (4), Westlands (4), Langata (2), Embakasi West (1), Kasarani (1), Dagoretti North (1) and Starehe (1).

In Mombasa, the cases are from Kisauni (7), Mvita (6), Nyali (3), Likoni (2) and Jomvu (1) and in Busia (8) are at Busia, (2) at Malaba Points of Entry, and (6) at Alupe Quarantine Facility.

The cases in Uasin Gishu are all from Turbo, while in Kajiado, the cases are from Kajiado North (2) and Namanga Border (3). In Kiambu, the two cases are from Kiambu Town (1) and Kabete (1) while the case in Isiolo is from Isiolo Town.

Dr. Mwangangi said  the government has equally noted a cavalier attitude in some people in various estates, particularly here in Nairobi who have thrown caution to the wind and behaving like life is back to normal

“Containment measures have been discarded in matatus, boda bodas, supermarkets, banks among others. I want to remind our people that our situation has not stabilized,” she said .

As numbers continue to rise, the CAS however noted that  today there were 17 patients who were discharged bringing the total number of recoveries to 148 but on a sad note, four more patients from Mombasa have succumbed to the disease. All of them had an underlying condition.

She also acknowledged that many people are now turning out for the targeted testing. This is encouraging since it is the only way of knowing where the virus is, he added.

The CS however cautioned those whose tests are coming back negative not to relax arguing that this is not a ticket to ignore the containment measures as one can very easily contract the virus immediately after a negative test.

Dr. Patrick Amoth, the Ag. Director General added that the Ministry of Health  has revised the template for reporting  to ensure information is captured in real time.

“With community transmission battle now shifting from Nairobi and Mombasa, a significant of 32 counties have recorded cases and we want to capture the data real time so that the figures can add up,” Dr. Amoth said and noted that 140 people gave false information and “we are still pursuing them.”

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ministry of Health, Kenya.