NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 13 – The death toll from COVID-19 hit the 100 mark Saturday in Kenya, even as the country recorded more recoveries from the virus.
Dr Rashid Aman, a Chief Administrative Secretary at the Ministry of Health, said 4 more patients succumbed to the virus on Saturday.
“Every death is a loss to us and we send our condolences to the family and friends of those who have lost their lives to this virus,” he said Saturday, during a daily news briefing at the Ministry of Health on COVID-19 update.
57 patients were also discharged after recovery from COVID-19, raising the number of people out of hospital to 1,221.
“Observing these measures comes with the cost to all of us. It is not easy. We have to give up many of our freedoms and desires,” he said.
By June 13, COVID-19 cases in the country had risen to 3,457 after 152 new infections were recorded.
Dr Aman said the cases were detected from 3,503 samples tested since Friday.
“You can see these numbers are rising and that is a pointer that we need to take all the measures of protecting ourselves seriously,” he told a news conference.
Dr Aman said all the new cases are Kenyans who contracted the virus within the communities.
Kenya is implementing tough restrictions since March when the first case was confirmed in the country, with a night curfew now starting from 9pm to 4am.
Movement into and out of the capital Nairobi, Mombasa and Mandera counties are also restricted until July 6, when President Uhuru Kenyatta will issue new guidelines.
Other measures in the country include the closure of bars, with restaurants now allowed to operate between 4 am and 5pm.
With Nairobi accounting for 44 per cent of all infections in the country, the caseload has increased by 70 new cases, followed by Mombasa with 41 cases.
According the Ministry of Health statistics, the virus is now confirmed in 38 counties out of 47.
“It is just a matter of time before the disease spreads to all the 47 counties,” Dr Aman warned.
The national government has already disbursed Sh5 billion to be spent by the counties in equipping hospitals, with an initial target of at least 300 isolation beds as the country gears up for the peak of the infections.
