• On March 26, Health CS Mutahi Kagwe confirmed the death of the first Kenyan from Covid-19.
• On March 28, Laban Kimungu and Peter Juma, all residing in the US were pronounced dead.
Image: COURTESY
Covid-19 has claimed the lives of five Kenyans so far.
Out of the five, three died in the country, while two are Kenyans living abroad.
On March 26, Health CS Mutahi Kagwe confirmed the death of the first Kenyan from Covid-19.
In a statement Kagwe said, "We have received the sad news of the death of a patient who had tested positive for coronavirus."
The 66-year-old Maurice Namiinda, a businessman, had been admitted at the Aga Khan University Hospital ICU.
He had arrived in Kenya on March 13 from South Africa via Swaziland.
Namiinda had been suffering from diabetes.
Two days later, Laban Kimungu, living in the US, was pronounced dead.
The family of Kimungu from Molo said he was being treated for an underlying condition when he contracted Covid-19.
Kimungu lived in the United States with his children and was hospitalised in a Massachusetts hospital before he passed on.
He was the first Kenyan abroad to have died from complications caused by the disease, and his demise was announced by the family on Friday.
“It is with humble acceptance of God’s will that we announce the promotion to glory of Mr. Laban Kimungu Njoroge of Molo,” the family said in a statement.
“He had been undergoing treatment for an underlying condition when he succumbed to the Covid-19 on March 25, 2020.”
On the same day, another Kenyan was pronounced dead in the US.
The 38-year-old Peter Juma is said to have complained of having a strong and persistent cough.
Peter, a resident of New York, told his father that he would visit the hospital later that day.
Peter, a father of five, is said to have been diagnosed with the highly infectious respiratory disease, and was placed under mandatory quarantine at a New York hospital.
“We did not worry so much because we were hopeful that he would recover. If anything, he assured us that all was going to be well and that God was in control,” his father Bishop Juma told reporters in Mombasa.
That conversation, which took place a few days ago, was the last one the bishop and his wife, Mary Juma, had with their son.
Two weeks later, Health CS Mutahi Kagwe announced the death of two more patients.
One of the new deaths reported on Thursday was of a Kenya Ports Authority employee.
The 58-year-old Ursla Buluma was buried at Mbaraki Cemetery.
Her daughter has been quarantined at the Coast General Hospital.
She is still under observation and will be tested.
The second patient was an employee of Kenya Airways.
Namiinda is expected to be laid to rest on Tuesday next week.
Acting Director General of Public Health Dr Patrick Amoth said the body has been disinfected and plans on how the body will be transported to Trans Nzioa are underway.
This brings the number to five even as the CS warns there will be more confirmed cases of the virus in days to come.
So far, Kenya has confirmed 110 cases after 29 new cases were reported.
Meanwhile, police are also on the spot for five deaths during the implementation of the 7pm to 5am curfew amid efforts to contain the spread of the disease.
According to the Independent Police Oversight Authority –IPOA, they have received notifications of the deaths and have deployed teams to investigate.
IPOA said on March 30, police allegedly shot Yasin Moyo, a 13-year-old boy in Kiamaiko area in Mathare, Nairobi county.
The boy was rushed to hospital where he succumbed to injuries.
According to the authority, a 49-year-old man died two days after allegedly being assaulted by police officers enforcing the curfew in Likoni, Mombasa county, on March 27.
On the same night of March 27, a boda boda rider, Calvince Omondi, died after allegedly being assaulted by Kosele Police Station officers enforcing the curfew in Homa Bay county.
On the night of April 1, police allegedly fatally injured two people - one in Kakakamega and one in Kwale county.
"All these notifications have been recorded and so far we have dispatched our teams to establish whether officers were involved. After that we shall conduct investigations to ascertain the circumstances and make necessary recommendations,” Dennis Oketch, the head of communications at Ipoa, said.