39 Kenyans contract foreign Covid-19 strain, CS Mutahi Kagwe confirms community transmission

Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe on Thursday confirmed community transmission of three foreign Covid-19 strains.

The three strains have been identified as the Indian variant, the United Kingdom strain and the South African strain.

According to CS Kagwe, a total of 39 patients had tested positive for the three foreign strains despite the fact that none of the 39 patients had travelled out of the country recently.

Kenya had recorded 15 cases of the deadly Indian variant of Covid-19 by May 13, 2021.

"18 samples were positive, of these 15 were of the India variant. Genomic sequencing is an expensive venture not done in hospitals but in two centres. In Kisumu we are testing 70 contacts that were traced to have come into contact with the five cases, not to be released until genomic sequencing is done and determined," Dr Amoth stated at the time.

Kenya Covid-19 Update

CS Kagwe further announced 341 new positive Covid-19 cases in Kenya after testing a sample size of 3,646.

Kenya's total Covid-19 cases now stand at 169,697 with a positivity rate of 9.4%.

A total of 1,067 patients are currently admitted in various health facilities countrywide while 4,680 patients are on Home Based Isolation and Care.

One hundred and four patients were reported to be in the Intensive care Unit (ICU), 20 of whom are on ventilatory support, 60 on supplemental oxygen and 24 on observation.

Deaths and Recoveries

The Ministry of Health (MoH) announced 144 discharges; 48 from various health facilities while 96 from home-based care. Total recoveries now stand at 115,988.

CS Kagwe reported 11 new Covid-related deaths all of which were late death reports from facility record audits on diverse dates.

This now pushes cumulative fatalities to 3,108.