Kenya has on Monday confirmed 11 cases of COVID-19 bringing the total number to 208.
Health CS Mutahi Kagwe while addressing the press at Afya House, said 674 samples have been tested in the last 24 hours.
“We have scaled up our preparedness in response to contain the disease, and scaled-up our Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) where we have spent millions of shillings, upwards of Ksh40 million. We have also tested over 8000 samples from quarantined persons and their contacts,” he said.
All the 11 cases are Kenyan nationals with 4 having traveled to the UAE.
Of the 11 confirmed cases, 6 are male and 5 females aged between 1 and 42 years.
They were distributed as follows: Nairobi-2, Mandera-4, Mombasa-3, Nakuru 1 and Machakos 1.
“Four of the patients were from the mandatory quarantine while seven were picked up by our surveillance teams,” he said.
15 people have been discharged after testing negative for the disease. This then means that 40 people are coronavirus free.
Further, the CS said, one person from Nairobi has succumbed to the novel COVID-19. The number of fatalities thus rises to 9.
As for mass testing, the ministry can now carry out up to 1,000 tests per day, CS Kagwe added.
Appealing to employers, the CS asked that they ensure their staff get their salaries, either half pay or otherwise so as to cushion them during this period.
“While we appreciate that times are hard, we appeal to employers to be considerate and to negotiate with their employees during this period.”
Organizations have sent their employees packing as tough financial times loom due to the virus that so far infected more than 1.8 million people, worldwide.
Foreign nationals were also asked to comply with set guidelines. The CS did however ask countries whose nationals cannot abide by the rules to evacuate them.
Also present was Director General Dr Patrick Amoth who noted that 142 people are hospitalized with two in critical condition.
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