Kenya has confirmed the first case of coronavirus in the country.
This was made public on Friday by Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe.
In a statatment, the CS said the patient is a woman who travelled from the U.S. to Nairobi through London.
The 27-year-old woman is said to have jetted into the country on March 5.
The CS pointed out that the patient is stable and her temperature has gone down to normal.
Kagwe has urged Kenyans not to panic as the woman has been isolated and is under medication.
“What we have is a corona virus positive test. There is no cause for alarm, continue with regular activities,” CS Kagwe said.
Read: How Coronavirus Symptoms Compare To Those Of Flu, Allergies And Common Cold
He added, “What we have is a corona virus positive test. There is no cause for alarm, continue with regular activities.”
As precautionary measure, the CS suspended all visits to prison facilities in the country. Inter school activiteis have also been halted until further notice.
The government has also suspended all public gatherings meetings, games, events, church crusades.
“Churches can have services as long as they have sanitizer,” said Kagwe.
At the same time, the CS urged all Kenyans to practice safety measures in the wake of coronavirus outbreak. These include thoroughly washing of hands, using alcohol based sanitizers, and keeping a 1 meter distance from a person who is sneezing or coughing.
Read Also: Kenya Airways Suspends Flights On Rome-Geneva Route Over Massive Coronavirus Outbreak
Globally, more than 125,000 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in more 114 countries and over 4,600 deaths reported.
At least 10 countries in Africa have reported cases of coronavirus. They are Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Senegal, Cameroon, Togo, South Africa, Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon and Ghana.
On Wednesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the coronavirus outbreak, which is fast spreading across the world, a pandemic.
“WHO has been assessing this outbreak around the clock and we are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity, and by the alarming levels of inaction. We have therefore made the assessment that #COVID19 can be characterized as a pandemic,” said WHO Director- General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
A pandemic is a disease for which people do not have immunity spreading over a wide geographic area and affecting an exceptionally high proportion of the population
According to WHO, coronavirus is a respiratory illness clinically resembling viral pneumonia and manifesting as fever, cough, and shortness of breath.
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