Another 538 people have tested positive for the coronavirus in the latest update, raising the national tally to 24,411 confirmed cases.

Health CAS Dr Rashid Aman says the ministry has tested 6,195 samples in the last 24 hours, which now brings to 335,318 cumulative tested samples.

Additionally, 514 patients have been discharged from various facilities. According to the CAS (pictured), 431 of those were under the home-based care programme and 83 were discharged from various hospitals across the country.

Kenya now boasts of at least 10,444 Covid-19 recoveries as of August 6, 2020.

Unfortunately, eight more people have succumbed to the disease, raising the death toll to 399.

The Health Ministry reports that six of the victims had underlying health conditions.

516 of the new cases are Kenyans and 22 foreigners. 333 of those are males and 205 are females.

The oldest statistic is an 85-year-old while the youngest a two-year-old.

Nairobi County continues to lead the pack registering 277 new cases, followed by Kiambu with 72 and Kajiado with 55 new cases.

World Breastfeeding Week

In light of the ongoing World Breastfeeding Week, the Health Ministry says it is striving to inform members of the public about the myths between breastfeeding, climate change, and environmental degradation.

These and the ravaging coronavirus pandemic, Dr Aman says are some of the major challenges facing the world today.

“In Kenya, statistics show that only three out of five children are exclusively breastfed during the first six months. As such, we are rolling out the baby-friendly breastfeeding initiative at the community level to raise awareness,” he said.

Pregnant and lactating mothers are advised to take more precautionary measures during this period, for instance, breastfeed their babies while wearing masks and always wash hands before touching them.

“It is highly unlikely that transmission of the virus occurs via breastmilk. Severe Covid-19 illness in newborns appears to be rare and only seen on those with underlying conditions,” he added.

This years’ World Breastfeeding Week runs from August 1 and ends on Friday, August 7.

Globally, there are over 19 million coronavirus infections, 12.2 million recoveries, and at least 711,000 deaths.