BREAKING: Health CS Kagwe confirms 4 new Coronavirus cases, total 42

Health CS Mutahi Kagwe has confirmed that four more cases of coronavirus have been registered bringing the total to 42.

He said one of them is a Kenyan and the other three are foreigners from the United States of America, Cameroon and Burkina Faso.

“In the last 24 hours, a total of 69 samples from suspected cases of coronavirus have been analyzed in our various laboratories: out of those we have received confirmation that 4 people have tested positive for the COVID-19 disease,” CS Kagwe said.

According to CS Kagwe, three of the new cases are based in Nairobi and one is in Mombasa.

He further noted that tracing of 1,426 contacts is ongoing.

The CS also stated that 2,050 people are in mandatory quarantine over coronavirus in 14 centres and warned Kenyans against sharing fake statistics. He singled out Dagoreth MP Hon John Kiarie for sharing fake statistics indicating that 7000 Kenyans were being quarantined at various public institutions. He said KJ’s tweets were meant for political bonga points and were not factual.

“We are expanding the capacity in counties and asking everybody to think ahead together. This is a Kenyan issue and every Kenyan should be onboard,” he said.

He also said employers must release their employees in good time to meet the curfew time of 7pm or else prepare accommodation for them.

The CS reiterated the importance of observing high standards of hygiene such as regular washing of hands with soap and water.

On ventilators, CS Kagwe noted that the World Bank has donated 250 of them and “every effort is being made to secure as many as possible.”

He further averred that the Government expects that the relevant companies will start manufacturing personal protective gear from next week.

“We have capacity for at least 1000 beds that we are putting in addition to what we have,” he added.

The Health CS also announced plans to hire 1000 more medical personnel to boost the existing numbers.