All Kenya’s 47 counties have registered a coronavirus case. This after Samburu County, which was the last of the 47 Counties recorded a case two weeks ago.
While addressing the press, Health CAS Mercy Mwangangi (pictured) said the Ministry can now firmly confirm that the virus is in the entire country without exception.
“This is not good news at all. However, there is hope if we stay focused, and all of us play our part in this fight against the pandemic,” she said.
With the rising numbers, Nairobi continued to lead the park with cumulative cases at 16,196, followed by Mombasa with 2,154, Kiambu with 1,964 cases, Kajiado with 1,514 cases and Machakos with 971.
“West Pokot is the only county with one case as of yesterday. That situation has however changed today. Samburu, which was the last County to report a case, has overtaken four other counties and now has 10 cases.”
Statistics
Coronavirus cases registered in the country have risen to 27,425, after 497 people tested positive for the virus.
Additionally, another 15 people have died, bringing the national death toll to 438.
The Health CAS said 11 patients had underlying conditions with the youngest being 31 years and the oldest 77.
The Mutahi Kagwe- led Ministry said it had tested 4,171 samples in the last 24 hours, which now brings cumulative tests to 362,501, since the first case was reported on March 13.
Of the new cases, Nairobi registered 236, Kiambu (45), Kajiado (26), Mombasa (19), Machakos (19), Laikipia (18), Trans Nzoia (17), Kisumu (17), Muranga (11), Nandi (11), Nyeri (8), Busia (8), Bomet (7), Uasin Gishu (5), Kericho (5), Kilifi (5), Nyamira (5), and West Pokot (5).
Garissa, Kirinyaga, Kisii, Lamu, Meru and Wajir had three cases each while Nakuru, Embu Kakamega, Kwale and Turkana had two cases each. Marsabit and Makueni had one case each.
467 of the new cases are Kenyans and 30 are foreigners.
Males continue to lead the curve, registering 312 others and 158 females.
The youngest case is a six month-old infant while the oldest is 80.
Fortunately, 372 patients have recovered from the disease. Out of this number, 315 are from the Home based Care program, while 57 have been discharged from various hospitals, bringing the total number of recoveries to 13,867.
Bed capacity
Nairobi has a total of 1,180 beds. According to Dr Mercy, the number comprises of 1,104 isolation beds and 76 ICU beds out of the 19 facilities so far assessed.
“From this assessment, over 99 per cent of the current bed count in Nairobi County, is attributed to beds outside Nairobi Metropolitan Service facilities,” she added.
The Ministry urged of all the 47 counties to ramp up their level of preparedness, since the local transmission of the virus is now spreading fast.
Dr Mwangangi revealed that 26,362 (98 percent) of the 26,928 confirmed cases are local transmissions.