Covid-19: Kenya records 17 new cases increasing total to 320

The Ministry of Health has reported 17 new coronavirus cases in the country, bringing the total number of cases in Kenya to 320.

The cases were confirmed after 668 samples were tested in the last 24 hours.

During the 37th coronavirus briefing at Afya House on Thursday afternoon, Health CAS Mercy Mwangangi (pictured)said all the patients were Kenyans.

Of the new cases, 12 are from Mombasa and five from Nairobi.

15 were picked by the surveillance teams and two are from mandatory quarantine centers.

Dr Mwangangi, however, stated that Nairobi remains the county with the highest number of coronavirus cases in the country.

The Health CAS further said six people had recovered from the virus bringing the total number of recoveries in the country to 89.

She noted that curfew and travel restrictions had yielded results in the fight against the pandemic and urged Kenyans not stigmatise those in quarantine and those who have recovered from the virus.

“Contracting coronavirus is not a crime, all of us have a potential risk of contracting the disease,” Dr Mercy Mwangangi said, adding that being quarantined was neither detention nor punishment for it was meant to serve the greater public good.

On the incubation period, which is the time between exposure to the virus and symptoms onset, Dr Mwangangi said Covid-19 was a new disease and medics were still studying it.

“The incubation period for Covid-19 is on average between 5-6 days. This can be up to 14 days depending on an individual. During this period some infected persons can transmit the virus,” she said.

The Health CAS also noted the over-reliance on sanitisers over soap and water as a measure to curb the spread of the virus was a misplaced priority.

“While sanitisers are effective, soap and running water are the best for fighting this disease. People must, therefore, start prioritising washing hands and only sanitize in conditions where sanitizing will be useful,” she added.

Those flouting measures put in place to curb the spread of the virus have been put on notice.

“As we continue with this fight, we have observed that some public service vehicles are defying social distancing regulations, and are increasingly sliding back to the old ways of conducting business. I want to remind them that action shall be taken against any matatu found carrying more than the recommended number of passengers.”

Global statistics

According to Worldometer's tally on April 23, the virus has infected at least 2,657,611 people and killed 185,000 across the world.

The total number of recoveries stood at 729,910.

In Africa, the number of coronavirus infections is at 25,949.

6,969 have so far recovered while 1,246 people have succumbed to the virus.

This is as the World Health Organisation warned that the coronavirus crisis will not end any time soon.

According to the world health body, many countries were only in the early stages of the fight against the pandemic.

"Make no mistake: we have a long way to go. This virus will be with us for a long time," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus Tedros told a virtual press conference on Wednesday.