1,064 test positive for coronavirus in Kenya

Over a thousand, precisely 1,064, people have tested positive for coronavirus in Kenya in the last 24 hours pushing the positivity rate to 17.3 per cent.

Some 964 Kenyans and 100 foreigners were among those who tested positive for Covid.

Nairobi is leading with the positive cases at 681, followed by Kiambu 93, Nakuru 69, Uasin Gishu 40, Kisumu 25, Kajiado 23, Busia 20, Machakos 17 and Kericho 17.

Others are Mombasa 15, Nyeri 10, Kirinyaga 8, Isiolo 5, Mandera 5, Laikipia 4, Turkana 4, Nandi 4, Meru 4 and Elgeyo Marakwet 3, among others.

6,151 samples were tested.

Total confirmed positive cases are now 115,031 and cumulative tests  1,379,990.

As 185 patients recovered from the disease, 149 were from the Home-Based and Isolation Care, while 36 were from various health facilities. The total recoveries now stand at 88,781.

Seven patients died pushing the cumulative fatalities to 1,925, the Health Ministry said on its official Twitter handle.

Some 709 patients are admitted in various health facilities countrywide, while 2,223 patients are on Home Based Isolation and Care. 

A total of 104 patients are in ICU, 25 of whom are on ventilatory support, 70 on supplemental oxygen and nine on observation.

Twenty-five patients are separately on supplementary oxygen with 24 of them in the general wards and 1 in the High Dependency Unit (HDU).

This comes as the Mirror reported that the European Union’s medicines regulator has said there is “no indication” that AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine is the cause of a reported increase in blood clots.

A growing number of countries across the world have suspended the use of the vaccine over concerns about its side effects.

Emer Cooke, European Medicines Agency (EMA) executive director, told a virtual press conference: "I want to also stress at present there is no indication that vaccination has caused these conditions.

"They have not come up in the clinical trials and they are not listed as known side events with this vaccine.

"In clinical trials, both vaccinated people and people who received the placebo have shown some very small number of blood clot developments.

"The number of thromboembolic events overall in vaccinated people seems not to be higher than that seen in the general population."

She added that the benefits of the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 jab outweighed the risks, the Mirror reported.

"Vaccines for Covid-19 help to protect individuals from becoming ill, especially healthcare professionals and vulnerable populations such as older people and people with chronic diseases," she said.

"This is a very important consideration in our assessment of the benefit-risk."