Kenya’s COVID-19 positivity rate at 11.2% as 618 new cases, 17 deaths recorded

The Ministry of Health on Tuesday announced that 618 people tested positive for COVID-19 from a sample size of 5,507 tested in the last 24 hours.

The positivity rate is now 11.2%, with total confirmed infections rising to 193,807 and cumulative tests so far conducted are 2,064,700.

Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe, in a statement, said 290 patients recovered from the coronavirus; 261 were discharged from various health facilities countrywide while 29 are from Home-Based Isolation and Care. Total recoveries rose to 183,211.

CS Kagwe however noted that 17 patients succumbed to the disease, all of them being late deaths reported after conducting facility record audits in November 2020 and March 2021. This pushes the cumulative fatalities to 3,800.

From the new cases, 580 are Kenyans while 38 are foreigners; 333 are females and 285 males, while the youngest is a six-month-old infant and the oldest is 103 years.

The cases were distributed across various counties namely; Nairobi 272, Mombasa 52, Kiambu 41, Nakuru 30, Uasin Gishu 24, Migori 23, Busia 19, Nandi 17, Kirinyaga 12, Kilifi 11, Kitui 10, Murang’a 10, Kajiado 9, Kericho 8, Kisumu 8, Machakos 8, Siaya 8, Vihiga 7, Garissa 7, Taita Taveta 6, Turkana 6, Homa Bay 5, Nyandarua 3, Meru 3, Embu 3, Bungoma 2, Kakamega 2, Kisii 2, Nyamira 2, Nyeri 2, Bomet 1, Laikipia 1 and Makueni 1.

“A total of 1,222 patients are currently admitted in various health facilities countrywide, while 4,339 are under the Home-Based Isolation and Care program. 139 patients are in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), 35 of whom are on ventilatory support and 75 on supplemental oxygen,” stated the CS.

“29 patients are under observation. Another 273 patients are separately on supplemental oxygen with 241 of them in general wards and 32 in High Dependency Units (HDU).”

CS Kagwe said a total of 1,635,441 vaccines have so far been administered across the country. Of these, total first doses are 1,040,317 while second doses are 595,124.

The uptake of the second dose among those who received their first dose is at 57.2% with the majority being males at 55% while females are at 45%. Proportion of adults fully vaccinated is 2.2%.

The uptake of the second dose by Priority Groups is as follows: Aged 58 years and above 185,693; Others 170,516; Health Workers 107,550; Teachers 84,147; and Security Officers are at 47,218.