A health worker disinfects a market at Kawangware slums in Nairobi, capital of Kenya, on May 2, 2020. Kenya's Ministry of Health on Saturday confirmed 24 additional COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of infections to 435. (Photo by Joy Nabukewa/Xinhua)
NAIROBI, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's Ministry of Health on Saturday confirmed 24 additional COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of infections to 435.
Mercy Mwangangi, Chief Administrative Secretary said that the cases were discovered following tests carried out from 1,195 samples that have been done in the last 24 hours.
"Today, I am also reminding Kenyans that this war is not a sprint. It is a marathon, and we must be psychologically prepared for it," Mwangangi told journalists during the ministry's daily COVID-19 briefings.
Mwangangi said that two more patients were discharged on Saturday after recovering bringing the total number of recoveries to 152.
The official, however, announced that one person died from COVID-19 in the coastal city of Mombasa. This, she said, now brings total deaths to 22 since the outbreak of the pandemic in the country.
Mwangangi noted that the government is currently reviewing the possibility of adopting home-based care for patients.
"The ministry will be issuing specific guidelines on this, in due course," Mwangangi noted. The official said that the targeted testing approach is showing that the disease is now firmly rooted within communities.
"It is therefore important that, in order to break the cycle of transmission within our communities, we must strictly observe the containment measures, particularly of social distancing that we have persistently advocated for," she noted.
Besides, Kenyan authorities have expressed concern about the rising number of coronavirus cases in two counties neighboring Somalia which has recorded more than 600 cases.
The counties of Mandera and Wajir have recorded ten COVID-19 cases amid fears the porous border Kenya shares with Somalia was putting the two counties at risk of more infections.
"We are calling on the national government to upscale COVID-19 screening equipment and assist in building our capacity in handling people seeking treatment," Mandera County Governor Ali Roba said on Saturday.
Roba said Somali nationals were seeking treatment in Mandera due to a lack of health facilities in their country.
So far 14 counties out of the 47 in Kenya have confirmed positive cases, with Nairobi and Mombasa taking the largest chunk at 91 percent of all the confirmed cases. Enditem
