The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Kenya now stands at 303 after seven more people tested positive.
In a statement on Wednesday Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe said all the seven individuals are Kenyans.
The CS said mass testing is ongoing adding that the government aims to conduct 250,000 tests by the end of June.
Kagwe, however, pointed out that because the number doesn’t march the Kenyan population, the government has collaborated with other development partners to exploit on the surveillance testing mechanisms.
The plan entails community, hospital and population-based surveillance.
“For the community-based surveillance, we are working at about 100,000 households. For the hospital-based surveillance we have mapped up 20 hospitals in 16 regions, ” he said.
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At the same time, the CS warned Kenyans against irresponsible behaviour that may endanger the lives of other people.
The CS cited the case of Kenyans who escaped from the Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC) quarantine facility on Tuesday.
The individuals are said to have complained about the exorbitant fees. Those at the facility are required to part with Ksh2,000 per day.
Kagwe urged the persons to surrender before they face full force of the law.
“There is nothing to celebrate when runaway impunity takes place at the risk of all of us,” he said.
“A slight lapse in behaviour could roll back the gains we have made and the destiny of our nation.”
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Earlier, President Uhuru Kenyatta said the persons who escaped from the KMTC facility will be arrested and returned to complete the mandatory 14-day period.
The escape is the second to be witnessed in the county as some other 32 people were reported to have escaped from a quarantine facility in Mandera on April 14.
The persons are said to have colluded with the police who aided their escape.
Meanwhile, Interior CS Fred Matiang’i has ordered for cessation of movement in and out of Mandera County by road and air for a period of 21 days.
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On Wednesday, the CS noted that the ban will take effect today starting 7 pm when the dusk till dawn curfew commences.
Matiang’i cited an increase in community-based infections of the deadly COVID-19.
Mandera which has recorded eight cases now becomes the fifth county where movement has been restricted after Nairobi, Mombasa, Kwale and Kilifi.
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