The Health ministry has warned Kenyans against stigmatising Covid-19 patients and those who have recovered.
During Tuesday’s briefing, Health Chief Administrative Secretary Rashid Aman said stigma is likely to undermine testing and treating efforts and put everyone at risk of contracting the virus.
“Our shared vulnerability to the virus should be a source of solidarity, it is the virus which is the enemy, not people with Covid-19 or those affected by it,” said Dr Aman. He added that no one is free of the virus until “all of us are free”.
CURVE RISING
Dr Aman noted the infections are likely to increase in the next few days, as we get to three months since the first case was announced in the country.
As the world marks 12 weeks since the World Health Organization declared the new coronavirus a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, Kenya’s infections have continued to grow, Dr Aman said.
“We are almost hitting the 3,000 mark. Our epidemiological curve is rising sharply in many of our regions, implying that going forward, we are likely going to record increasing numbers of positives and more people requiring clinical management,” he said.
In the first eight days of June, a total of 900 positive cases have been recorded from 19,461 samples, he said.
Compared to the first eight days of May when only 225 positive cases from 8,872 sample were recorded, the curve is rising, he noted.
According to Dr Aman, the situation will be made better if people strictly follow measures that have been imposed to control the spread of the virus.
He noted that the key weapons for fighting the disease remain hand washing, personal hygiene, wearing masks and avoiding large gatherings.
“They have worked in other places and adhering to them can suppress the curve or flatten it,” he said.
The Health CAS said stay-at-home directives, which have been utilised by many countries to limit human movement, have helped tame an upsurge of cases. He further noted that, unfortunately, when the restrictions were lifted, infections went up sharply, forcing countries to reintroduce the measures.
“This is why we have approached the issue of reopening with caution, so as not to erase the gains we have made in the past three months.
Yesterday, 127 new infections were reported from 2,247 samples collected from across the country, bringing the total number of infections to 2,989.
From the positive cases, 124 were Kenyans and three were foreigners.
HIGHEST NUMBER
Nairobi County had the highest number of infections at 62, followed by Mombasa (34), Busia (14), Kiambu (4), Kilifi (4), Kwale (4), Machakos (4) and Uasin Gishu (1).
The highest number of cases in Nairobi was recorded in Kibra (21) followed by Westlands (14), Ruaraka (12), Kamukunji (5), Lang’ata (4), Dagoretti North (3), with Makadara, Embakasi South and Embakasi West recording one case each.
Dr Aman also announced that 24 more people were discharged from hospitals, bringing recoveries to a total of 873. Three Covid-19-related deaths were also recorded, bringing the total number of deaths to 88.
The health official revealed that 74 healthcare workers have contracted the virus since March, with 19 of them currently hospitalised at different facilities across the country.