COVID-19: Kenyas positivity rate at 15.3% as 1,506 cases, 24 deaths recorded

The Ministry of Health on Wednesday announced that 1,506 people tested positive for COVID-19 from a sample size of 9,840 tested in the last 24 hours.

The positivity rate is 15.3%, with total confirmed positive cases at 224,400 and cumulative tests so far conducted are 2,278,763.

From the cases 1,473 are Kenyans while 33 are foreigners; 795 are females and 711 are males, while the youngest is a five-month-old baby and the oldest is 102 years.

The ministry said 1,538 patients recovered from the coronavirus; with 1,352 from the Home-Based Isolation and Care program while 186 were discharged from various health facilities countrywide. Total recoveries stand at 207,450.

The Mutahi Kagwe-led ministry however noted that 24 patients succumbed to the disease, one of them in the last 24 hours while 23 are late deaths reported after conducting facility record audits in July and August 2021. This pushes the cumulative fatalities to 4,378.

The new cases were recorded across various counties namely; Nairobi 512, Kiambu 162, Nakuru 93, Mombasa 89, Nyandarua 88, Makueni 68, Machakos 64, Murang’a 47, Embu 45, Kajiado 41, Uasin Gishu 41, Kirinyaga 32, Marsabit 25, Turkana 17, Garissa 17, Busia 17, Nandi 15, Baringo 13, Meru 12, Bungoma 10, Nyeri 10, Isiolo 8, Kilifi 8, Lamu 7, Kisii 6, Kisumu 6, Narok 6, Kitui 5, Tana River 5, Migori 5, Kwale 4, Elgeyo Marakwet 3, Homa Bay 3, Kakamega 3, Mandera 3, Tharaka Nithi 3, Wajir 3, Samburu 3, Siaya 3, Kericho 2 and Taita Taveta 2.

“A total of 2,054 patients are currently admitted in various health facilities countrywide, while 8,408 are under the Home-Based Isolation and Care program. 161 patients are in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), 86 of whom are on ventilatory support and 75 on supplemental oxygen,” said Cabinet Secretart Kagwe in a statement.

“No patient is under observation. Another 783 patients are separately on supplemental oxygen with 723 of them in general wards and 60 in High Dependency Units (HDU).”

A total of 2,154,825 vaccines have so far been administered across the country. Of these, total first doses are 1,393,905 while second doses are 760,920.

The uptake of the second dose among those who received their first dose is at 54.6% with the majority being males at 55% while females are at 45%.  Proportion of adults fully vaccinated is 2.8%.

The uptake of the second dose by Priority Groups is as follows: Aged 58 years and above 232,616; Others 224,250; Health Workers 128,298; Teachers 113,094; and Security Officers are at 62,662.