Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe, on Monday, April 13, announced that 11 new individuals had tested positive for Covid-19.
The new cases were confirmed from a pool of 674 tests carried out in the last 24 hours, with CS Kagwe further stating that the 11 individuals were all Kenyans, adding that 1 patient had succumbed to the virus during the same period.
Speaking outside Afya House during his daily presser, the Health CS went on to reveal that they had managed to test over 8,000 people to date.
“We have scaled up our preparedness in response to contain the disease, and scaled-up our Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) where we have spent millions of shillings, upwards of Ksh40 million. We have also tested over 8000 samples from quarantined persons and their contacts,” he disclosed.
On a positive note, the CS informed the nation that 15 people had fully recovered from the virus and were discharged from various health facilities, bringing the total tally of recovered patients to 40.
He then provided more information regarding the 11 new cases, revealing that they were spread out in the following counties; Mandera (4), Mombasa (3), Nairobi (2), Nakuru (1), and Machakos (1), adding that 6 were male.
Speaking on the night burial of a Coronavirus victim in Siaya, he asked Kenyans to bear in mind that previously practised burial customs would need to be shelved during this period.
“I want to be very honest, moving forward there will be challenges; cultural practices on how to bury the dead may not be practical. Covid-19 bodies will be disposed of in a manner that protects the living,” he elaborated.
“From the Siaya case, we have 45 people in quarantine and we will be going for more who have been identified in the contact trace line,” CS Kagwe revealed.