Coronavirus cases in Kenya now at 4,044 after 184 more patients test positive

Health Chief Administrative Secretary Dr. Rashid Aman on Wednesday announced that Kenya had confirmed the highest single-day cases of COVID-19 at 184.

Dr. Aman said the cases, confirmed from 2,518 samples tested in the last 24 hours, now brings the total number of cases in the country to 4,044.

The 184 new patients, composed of 129 males and 55 females, are all Kenyans except one who is a foreign national.

The infections were recorded in various counties namely; Nairobi (111), Mombasa (19), Kajiado (14), Meru (13), Kiambu (9), Busia (6), Nakuru (4), Machakos (3), while Kwale, Kisumu, Garissa, Taita Taveta, and Vihiga all had one case each.

The Nairobi infections were distributed across various sub-counties such as: Westlands (33), Kibra (19), Lang’ata (18), Embakasi East (15), Dagoretti North (12), Kamukunji (12), Makadara (2), Starehe (2), Embakasi Central (2), while Roysambu, Embakasi West, Kasarani, and Embakasi South recorded one case each.

In Mombasa, Mvita had 9 cases while Changamwe had 4, Likoni (2), Nyali (2), Kisanu (1), and Jomvu (1).

In Kajiado, 12 cases were recorded in Kajiado Central while Kajiado East and Kajiado North each confirmed one case.

The 13 Meru cases were all from Imenti North, while the 3 in Machakos were all in Athi River and, in Busia, all the 6 cases were recorded at the border points; 5 in Malaba and one in Matayos.

In Kiambu, the cases were in Lari (9), Juja (2), and Kabete, Kikuyu, Kiambu town, as well as Limuru had one.

CAS Aman further announced that 27 more patients were discharged from various health facilities, hence bringing the total number of recoveries to 1,353.

The country also recorded two more deaths from the coronavirus, taking the tally of fatalities to 107.

“We are beginning to see a rise in the number of positives as we move along. We are now probably entering into the exponential phase of our curve, and going forward we are likely to see larger numbers of positive cases being returned every day,” said the CAS.

“This is serious and a situation that we all need to be concerned about. Such figures have the potential to overwhelm our health facilities.”

Dr. Aman further warned Kenyans to be wary of supposed COVID-19 testing kits now rampant in the market.

“Several testing kits that purport to diagnose COVID-19 have permeated our market. The standard test that the ministry uses as a diagnosis of COVID-19 is the real time PCR test based on detection of nucleic acid of the virus. [This is] the only test that definitively identifies the presence of coronavirus in those that turn out positive,” he stated.

“Yes, there are other tests that have been established that are not based on detection of nucleic acid, but are based on detection of either antibodies that a person may have raised as an immune response to the virus. These are the so called Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDT). And it is these RDTs that are worrying us.”