Kiambu records alarming Covid cases as country’s caseload climbs by 1,459

Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe has hinted at the possible restriction of movements during the December period. [File, Standard]

Kiambu County on Thursday emerged as the country’s second Covid -19 hotspot after the region recorded 311 cases in the past 24 hours, trailing only Nairobi.

According to the data from the Ministry of Health, the county’s Covid-19 cases shot more than seven times from 40 cases it posted on Wednesday, giving another head-scratching puzzle. Kenya recorded 1,459 fresh cases from a sample size of 10, 146 in the past 24 hours. This now implies that the country’s cumulative cases are 74, 145 from a total sample size of 815, 040.

Demographically, 835 of those who tested positive are males while the remaining 624 are females. 1,419 of the new patients are Kenyans while the other group of 40 people are foreign nationals.

A four-month-old baby was among the new patients and was the youngest in the group while the oldest was a 97-year-old person. The country’s death toll shot to 1,330 after 17 more people tested succumbed to the virus. The country’s daily recovery dropped from 2,616 on Wednesday to 780 people who were declared Covid-19 free. 690 of them coming from home-based care while the remaining 90 came from various designated healthcare facilities. The country’s total recoveries now stand at 50, 658.

1,116 people are admitted at various healthcare facilities with another batch of 6,232 people being admitted for home-based care treatment. 59 patients are on the ICU, 27on the ventilatory support and 28 on supplemental oxygen. 83 people are out of the supplemental oxygen, where 67 of them are in general wards and 16 in the High Dependency Unit (HDU).

Distribution

On the distribution, Kiambu has displaced Mombasa to second place in terms of positive cases after posting 311 cases. Nairobi leads with 472 while Mombasa is third with 108. The rest of the counties with cases are Laikipia 63, Uasin Gishu 53, Busia 49, Kisumu 48, Meru 43, Nakuru 36, Kericho 33, Kisii 29, Kakamega 29, Marsabit 17, Murang’a 16, Nyamira 16, Kajiado 15, Garissa 13, Nandi 12, Kitui 12, Nyeri 11, Machakos 11, Siaya 10, Bungoma 10, Turkana 8, Kirinyaga 8, Kilifi 6, Bomet 5, Trans Nzoia 4, Homa Bay 3, Makueni 2, Taita 2, Kwale 2, Isiolo 2 and Tharaka Nithi 1.