Health CS Kagwe warns of spike in Covid-19 infections

Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe. [Wilberforce Okwiri, Standard]

Kenya may not be out of the woods yet as coronavirus infections grow by the day.

Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe on Wednesday, July 28, warned of a spike in cases, urging Kenyans to continue adhering to Covid-19 protocols, to help contain the spread of the disease.

Kagwe was speaking at Ministry headquarters at Afya House, Nairobi, as he received a donation of ambulances off a collaboration between the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the European Union (EU).

This, he said would help enhance the cross-border management as counties continue to heighten the fight against the pandemic.

“We have seen an increase in demand of ICU beds and oxygen. We had gone to less than 100 people needing oxygen but as of yesterday, we noted over 400 patients requiring oxygen,” the CS said.

He further urged governors to increase Covid-19 medical equipment in their respective counties, to cater for the spike in infections and see to it that patients received ample medical care.

IGAD Executive Secretary Workneh Gebeyehu reiterated that the collaboration would promote vaccine diplomacy, saying that “vaccination isn’t about politics.”

In an interview with Bloomberg last month, Acting Health Director General Dr Patrick Amoth also expressed concern over a spark in the fourth wave of infections.

“If there’s a fourth wave in July-August, it will most likely be due to delta variant,” Amoth said.

Yesterday, Kenya recorded 976 Covid cases out of 6,896 samples tested. This brings the country’s positivity rate to 14.2 per cent.

As at July 27, 2021, there are 198,935 total confirmed Covid-19 cases in the country.