• A total of 69 samples were analysed within the last 24 hours.
Image: DOUGLAS OKIDDY
There are four new cases of Covid-19, Health CS Mutahi Kagwe has said.
They are one Kenyan and three foreigners from US, Cameroon and Burkina Faso.
The cases were from a total of 69 samples which were analysed within the last 24 hours.
Three of the cases are from Nairobi and one is from Mombasa. Nairobi country, therefore, continues to lead in the number of cases with 31 patients, followed by Kilifi with six, Mombasa with three, while Kajiado and Kwale have one each.
Kagwe said it was high time Kenyans woke up to the fact that coronavirus is real and wreaking havoc across the globe.
The CS on Sunday began his daily briefing on the Covid-19 situation by giving statistics on cases and deaths across the globe.
Kagwe said, "As of yesterday the global figures stood at 571, 678 of persons who have tested positive for Coronavirus while 26,494 have succumbed since the disease outbreak."
"Yesterday alone within a period of 24 hours Italy reported 971 deaths while Spain recorded 769. The USA recorded a total of 16894 new cases with 252 deaths in a period of 24 hours."
Kagwe said Kenya could face similar outcomes if citizens remained complacent about the measures given by the government in a bid to contain spread of the virus.
The measures include a dusk-to-dawn curfew, an order to stop congregating for church services and a directive that matatus ferry fewer passengers to maintain the recommended one-metre social distancing.
Although there are 42 reported cased of Covid-19 in Kenya, one patient died on Thursday. The man, who was 66 years old, died at Aga Khan University Hospital. He had diabetes.
There is also one person who has fully recovered from the disease.
Tracing of contacts for the 42 confirmed cases is ongoing. The total number of close contacts the government is monitoring stands at 1,426.
Out of this number, 215 have been discharged after completing the mandatory 14-day follow up period.
Medical teams are monitoring 919 close contacts with 18 individuals admitted at Mbagathi Hospital awaiting test results.
To date, the government has tested 877 persons for Covid-19.
On Saturday, the CS had said that there was a likelihood of an increase in the Covid-19 cases once mass testing begins on Sunday.
Kagwe also hit out at Dagoretti South MP John Kiarie for misleading Kenyans about the number of Covid-19 cases in Kenya.
He termed Kiarie's tweets about the Kenyan situation as "immoral".
"It is immoral to try and gain mileage out of such a situation," Kagwe said on Sunday,
Kiarie had claimed 7,000 people were being quarantined in his constituency after travel from Wednesday.
He said Kenyans should be prepared to face the reality ahead of a rise in coronavirus cases as mass testing begins on Sunday.
The MP urged the government to be open and tell Kenyans the truth as far as positive cases are so that they can take the situation seriously.
“Kenya Government must forthwith communicate the gravity of the real situation without sugar coating anymore. Let Kenyans know how bad things are about to get. They will be better equipped to make personal decisions and put up with government decrees, measures and restrictions,” Kiarie said.