NAIROBI, Kenya, April 23 – The Ministry of Health on Thursday warned Kenyans against over- reliance on hand sanitizers while urging members of the public to use soap and water for maximum hand hygiene.
Health Chief Administrative Secretary Mercy Mwangagi issued the advisory while reporting seventeen new COVID-19 infections mainly concentrated in Mombasa.
“While sanitizers are effective, soap and running water are the best in fighting this disease. People must therefore start prioritizing washing hands, and only sanitize in conditions where sanitizing could be useful,” she said.
The health ministry also emphasized on the need of wearing masks – which are now mandatory for Kenyans in public places – and adherence to social distancing guidelines, measures she noted had a positive impact in the fight against the virus.
Kenya has so far registered 320 coronavirus cases.
The 17 cases reported on Thursday, 12 of which were traced to Mombasa, arose from 668 samples analyzed within a period of 24 hours.
15 of them were picked by health ministry’s surveillance teams while 2 were from quarantine centers.
Mwangangi said only two patients are are admitted in Intensive Care Unit adding that the rest are mild cases.
She said six patients had recovered from the virus, bringing the total number of recoveries to eighty-nine.
Coronavirus-linked deaths stand at 14.
