Kenya records 74 new cases of coronavirus, total at 1,962

Kenya has recorded 74 new cases of coronavirus in the last 24 hours bringing the total to 1,962.

Health CAS Rashid Aman said the latest cases are from 1,574 samples that were tested between Saturday and Sunday.

So far, Kenya has tested a total of 78,536 samples cumulatively.

County distribution of the 74 new cases is as follows: Nairobi 35, Mombasa 23, Busia 6, Kiambu 2, Kwale 2, Kajiado 2, Kilifi 1, Uasin Gishu 1, Taita Taveta 1, Laikipia 1.

Taita Taveta becomes the latest county to report a positive case of coronavirus.

Total number of counties with patients who have contracted coronavirus now stands at 34.

One more person has succumbed to the COVID-19 disease in Kayole: death toll from coronavirus is now at 64.

14 people have however been discharged bringing total number of recoveries to 478.

On Sunday, Dr. Aman also revealed that Nairobi Remand Prison accounted for a large number of the Makadara cases on Saturday.

According to him, there were two cases initially and they were isolated from the rest of the population.

“We will continue to watch and work with the correctional departments to look at all the remand prisons,” he said, adding that the Ministry of Health is consulting with the prison department to see how transmission can be broken.

In terms of limiting interaction among remandees, the CAS said prisons have already stopped visitation by members of the family to stop the spread.

Dr. Aman also cited informal settlements such as Kibra saying they are still areas of concern.

He said Nairobi County health teams are active in Kibra for contact tracing.

“In terms of when it will trigger further measures we await and see when this will happen,” he said.

He further warned Kenyans against smoking tobacco citing the World Health Organization (WHO) report.

“Tobacco smokers may be more vulnerable to contracting COVID-19, as the act of smoking involves contact of fingers with the lips, which increases the possibility of transmission of viruses from hand to mouth,” the Ministry of Health said.