• Health CAS Rashid Aman said informal settlements continue to be a major concern and the main areas of focus for the government.
Image: .MAGDALINE SAYA
The Health Ministry has warned that coronavirus in the elderly and children could present with diarrhea and vomiting.
The Ag DG Patrick Amoth also noted that the elderly have a different presentation of the virus.
The DG further projected that Kenya could record between 160 to 180 deaths by August based on the current fatality rate of 3.8 per cent.
“People might present with symptoms such as anxiety, depression, they can have unexplained strokes, then there is a loss of the sense of smell and taste. They can also get an infection in the brain,” Amoth said.
This comes even as the number of positive cases jumped to 1,888 after 143 more cases were confirmed by the ministry on Saturday.
The 143 were from 2,959 samples tested in a day. The total number of tests conducted since the first case is now 76,962.
Health CAS Rashid Aman said informal settlements continue to be a major concern and the main areas of focus for the government.
The CAS said should the numbers that picked up in these settings continue to increase a point will come when it will be necessary to take some interventions to contain the spread of the virus in some of these places.
Twenty six more people were discharged from hospital, bringing the total number of patients who have successfully undergone treatment and recovered at 464.
In terms of age the new cases are aged between one month and 88 years, comprising of 110 men and 33 women.
Out of the total confirmed cases, 86 are from Nairobi while 25 are from Mombasa.Uasin Gishu recorded 11 cases while Kiambu, Busia, Kwale and Migoir recorded three cases each.
Kajiado, Garissa, Kisii, Isiolo and Makueni also recorded one case each, with Kericho being the latest country to report a case.
The number of counties with at least a positive case now stand at 33.
One more patient however succumbed to the virus, making the total number of fatalities in the country to 63.
In Nairobi, informal settlements continue to be a major concern with Kibera having recorded 21 cases in the last 24 hours. The area now has a cumulative figure of 151 positive cases.
“Informal settlements continue to be of concern because of the nature of the informal settlements itself and the congestion and living conditions in these areas,” Aman said during the briefing on Saturday.
“We have seen an increasing concern around Kibera most of our numbers in the last couple of days have been coming out of kibera partly because we have also extended the testing.”
Makadara had the highest number of cases with 45. Embakasi South recorded six cases, Kasarani five, Ruaraka two, Westlands two, Embakasi West two, while Starehe and Lang’ata had one case each.
The cases in Mombasa were spread in Likoni with 11, Mvita 9, Jomvu two, Nyali two and Changamwe two.
“There is much more testing going on in some of these places so I think as we go along we are focusing particularly on some of these areas so that we can be able to gauge and understand what the level of transmission is in these informal settlements,” Aman said.
According to Amoth, informal settlements are hotpsots for transmission of Covid-19 with data received by the ministry so far showing that the figure in Eastleig satnds at 121 while Old Town in Mombasa is leading with 91 cases.
“That is why we are trying to focus more on informal settlements where sometimes is practically difficult to ensure physical and social distancing,” Amtoh said.
He added: “So our message there is more of infection prevention control measures and use of masks to be able to prevent spread of the virus when we cough or sneeze or speak.”
The DG noted that the importance of provision of water and sanitation facilities in the informal settlements cannot be under estimated in the fight against the virus.