The Ministry of Health on Wednesday issued an update on the
coronavirus (COVID-19) in Kenya and stated that preparedness measures had been
stepped up.
Further, the Ministry revealed that the 13 cases
investigated locally all tested negative but since the risk is still high, the
public was advised to:
- Maintain basic hand and respiratory hygiene, and safe food
practices.
- Avoid close contact with people suffering from acute
respiratory infections.
- In addition, anyone showing symptoms of respiratory illness
such as fever, coughing, difficulty in breathing and sneezing with a history of
recent travel to China is advised to go to the nearest health facility for
assessment and prompt management.
- We are advising Kenyans against non-essential travel to
affected countries.
Information from the World Health Organization (WHO)
indicate that as at 18th February 2019, 73,332 confirmed cases have
been reported globally and 1,870 deaths majority from mainland China.
According to WHO, Coronaviruses
(CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common
cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome
(MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). A
novel coronavirus (nCoV) is a new strain that has not been previously
identified in humans.
Coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted
between animals and people. Detailed investigations found that SARS-CoV
was transmitted from civet cats to humans and MERS-CoV from dromedary camels to
humans. Several known coronaviruses are circulating in animals that have not
yet infected humans.
Common signs of infection include respiratory symptoms,
fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases,
infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney
failure and even death.
