Kenya reports 22.4pc COVID positivity rate with 1,609 cases detected » Capital News

NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 17 – Kenya on Friday registered a 22.4 per cent COVID-19 positivity rate after 1,609 people tested positive for the virus from a sample size of 7,176.

This pushed the cumulative number of cases record since the onset of the pandemic to 260,166.

Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe said the new cases included 1,512 Kenyans and 97 foreigners.

CS Kagwe further announced that three patients had succumbed to the disease, all of them being deaths picked from audited facility records in the month of December raising fatalities to 5,353.

Another 38 patients were discharged after recovering from the virus, bringing total recoveries to 249,192.

Over 8.6 million people had been vaccinated against the virus according to statistics released on Friday among them 3,483,662 who were fully vaccinated.

The Ministry of Health raised concerns over increased COVID-19 cases in the country, amid global fears over the Omicron variant.

Ruling out drastic containment measures imposed at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, the Health Ministry is instead advocating for adherence to measures already in place to manage the Omicron variant of the virus confirmed in the country on Wednesday.

The variant with thirty-two mutations is classified as fast spreading although scientists have indicated that it is not as deadly as its predecessor Delta which remains the most dominant in the world.

CS Kagwe, while announcing the confirmation of the Omicron variant, disclosed that two Kenyans and a South African national who tested positive had been quarantined.

“We have detected the Omicron variant particularly among the travelers in the airports and so it is just a matter of time before Omicron becomes the dominant variant across the world. I have absolutely no doubt about it.”

Kagwe said he was in constant communication with health authorities in South Africa where the variant was first reported in a bid to borrow lessons on its management.

He however cautioned the public to ensure adherence to distancing and other containment guidelines to avert an uncontrolled spread of the virus.

“The Omicron variant is spreading very fast. If you go to a pub and there are five of you and you sit around together in one table and somebody has the Omicron variant, chances are that you will all walk out of there with the virus,” Kagwe cautioned.

Kagwe urged Kenyans to get vaccinated to protect themselves against severe effects of COVID-19