Kenya's virus cases shoot by 45, all new Nairobi patients from Eastleigh

Kenya has recorded 45 more positive cases, bringing the total to 535 people.

This marks the highest number of patients since the first case was recorded on March 13.

Health CS Mutahi Kagwe on Tuesday said 29 are from Nairobi, and all of them are from Eastleigh.

This raises the total number of cases in Eastleigh to 63, making it a hot spot in Nairobi.

The surge in Eastleigh numbers is following residents turning up in large numbers for targeted mass testing, MoH acting director general Patrick Amoth said.

Of the new cases, 11 are from Mombasa and five are from Wajir.

A total of 30 of the new cases are male while 15 are female.

One is a foreign national from Somalia.

A total of 1,077 tests were done in the last 24 hours. Kenya has nine new discharges bringing the total to 182.

He said that community spread is being recorded highly in three places; Eastleigh, Kawangware, and Old Town Mombasa.

In total, Eastleigh has 63 cases, resulting from mass testing that has been taking place in the last 24 hours, Kawangware 24 and Old Town 39.

Kagwe went biblical, urging Kenyans to be responsible and follow government directives on social distancing and other safety measures.

"People send me messages in anger having observed people sitting outside bars drinking away, others sitting together during Ramadan, even against advice of leaders," he said.

The CS said it is not fair to expect police to focus their energy going after patrons of eateries instead of doing other important duties because they are flouting rules.