Covid-19 creeping back; Let us take precautions

Reports that Kenya’s coronavirus positivity rate has risen to 2.1 per cent is worrying. The Ministry of Health has disclosed that 47 people tested positive for the disease from a sample size of 2,248 tested on Saturday. The ministry put the total confirmed positive cases at 324,222 and cumulative tests so far as 3,647,100.

Globally, the number of Covid-19 deaths has dropped by about 21 per cent in the past week while cases rose in most parts of the world, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). During its weekly report on the pandemic released on Thursday, the global health agency said the number of new coronavirus cases appears to have stabilised after weeks of decline since late March with about 3.5 million new cases last week. Their findings showed increased cases in the Americas, Middle East, Africa and Western Pacific with a fall in Europe and Southeast Asia as 9,000 deaths were recorded.

Infections rose by more than 60 per cent in the Middle East and 26 per cent in the Americas while deaths fell everywhere except Africa, where they jumped by nearly 50 per cent. This comes even as the Covax, a facility created by WHO to oversee procurement, allotment and distribution of Covid-19 vaccines to 92 countries, last week disclosed that only 16 per cent of people in low-income countries have received a single vaccine dose – compared to 80 per cent in high-income countries.

The resurgence of the deadly virus comes as Kenyans now barely observe the Covid-19 protocols established by the ministry, such as wearing masks in indoor meetings and regularly washing hands or using sanitiser. As of Thursday, when the government last gave an update of the nationwide vaccine uptake, 18.05 million doses had been administered.

The new development is a call to take precautions and keep the disease at bay. With the relaxation of the stringent health protocols observed since early 2020, when the disease was first reported in the country, people have generally thrown caution to the wind as regards the virus. The debilitation that Covid-19 has caused the world over the past two years should make us think twice about not taking preventive measures.