NAIROBI, May 1 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's Ministry of Health on Friday confirmed 15 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number to 411.
Mutahi Kagwe, Cabinet Secretary for Health, said the eight female and seven male patients were tested from the 1,434 samples over the last 24 hours.
Kagwe noted that out of the 15 cases, 11 are from the coastal city of Mombasa that he said extra containment measures are being undertaken.
Kagwe said that during the last 24 hours, six patients have been discharged from hospital bringing to the total number of recoveries 150.
He said that since the outbreak of the disease in Kenya on March 13, medical personnel have followed up 3,684, discharged 2,854 from follow-ups and currently monitoring 830 cases.
He revealed that four people have died of the disease, bringing to the total number of fatalities to 21.
Kagwe said that so far the country has recorded 261 local and 150 imported transmissions, accounting for 64 and 36 percent respectively.
The official noted that the ministry has increased testing capacity from two laboratories to 15 and has so far tested 21,702 samples from laboratories that are spread throughout the country.
He said that the government plans to expand targeting testing capacity to other sectors and operationalize additional laboratories to other regions to enhance testing capacity.
According to the official, 14 counties out of the 47 in Kenya have so far confirmed positive COVID-19 cases with Nairobi and Mombasa recording the highest cases of the pandemic. Enditem
