Kenya has recorded 143 more Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours as the country’s total caseload rises to 35,603.
Speaking from Mathare National Teaching and Referral Hospital in Nairobi on Thursday, September 10, Health CAS Dr. Rashid Aman indicated that 3,854 samples had been tested in the same period bringing the cumulative tests to 485,836.
From the cases, 129 are Kenyans while 14 are foreigners.
In terms of gender, 85 are males and 58 females. The youngest is a 9-month-old infant, while the oldest is 83 years.
An additional 490 patients have been discharged, bringing the total number of recoveries to 22,047. 248 are from the home-based care program and 242 were discharged from various hospitals around the county.
Regrettably, 5 more patients succumbed to the virus bringing the total fatalities so far to 612.
In counties, the cases have been distributed as follows: Nairobi (35), Kitui (23), Mombasa, Garissa, Kiambu, and Nakuru (9) cases each, Kilifi (8), Turkana (7), Kajiado, and Machakos (5) cases each, Kisii and Kisumu (4) cases each, Embu (3) Uasin Gishu, Makueni, Transzoia and Nyeri (2) cases each, while Migori, Busia, Isiolo, Taita Taveta and Meru recorded a case each.
Marking the World Suicide Prevention Day, Aman acknowledged that suicide was the second leading cause of death among 15-29-year-olds.
He informed that the suicide rate had grown by 58% between 2008 and 2017 with an average of 317 cases reported each year.
The CAS added that mental health during a crisis like Covid-19 brought anxiety, hopelessness, difficulty in sleeping, anger among some individuals.
“We are considering setting up a tele-counseling psychiatry which will also have a call center that will have suicide prevention hotline numbers that Kenyans can call into and receive counseling and guidance,” Aman stated.