Four more people have tested positive for coronavirus bringing the national tally to 126, Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe (pictured) said.

Speaking at Afya House during the daily update on the status of the coronavirus, Kagwe said 372 people had been tested in the last 24 hours where four tested positive.

He said three out of the four were Kenyans while one is a Pakistani national.

In terms of gender, Kagwe said three new cases are male while one is a female, adding that two of them travelled from Malawi and Pakistan and the other two contracted the disease locally.

Kagwe said out of 2050 in mandatory quarantine, the government tested 1,866 people while 184 individuals are yet to be tested.

He said 1,781 are being monitored in contact tracing with 1,100 being discharged on the expiry of 14 days.

Another 672 people are being monitored on the government’s follow-up programme.

Kagwe said the few cases reported today mean that government directives such as the dusk to dawn curfew have gotten positive impact on containing the virus.

“Kenya is lucky that the numbers are not increasing exponentially. We believe the measures taken like the curfew and social distancing are having this effect,” the CS said.

He also said that those the number of confirmed positive cases rank the highest in quarantine facilities within the country, which poses a high rate of transmission especially from those who have not taken the guidelines seriously.

“We have instructed medical teams to extend quarantine period for another 14 days, in facilities where quarantines breached protocols and went partying.”

Youth asked to step up

CS Kagwe pleaded with the youth to step up in the fight against coronavirus, as they make up a large part of society.

“The youth are the biggest component of our society and they are largely mobile; they have the energy, Let them unleash this energy to fight coronavirus disease,” he advised.

Kagwe said the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) is conducting research to ensure that the country manufactures its own testing kits.