Ministry says informal settlements record most Covid cases

CS Kagwe says Nairobi recorded 256 more Covid-19 infections in the last 24 hours. [File, Standard]

Despite the capital, Nairobi county, recording the most cases regularly, the highest numbers are recorded in informal settlement areas, Ministry of Health says.

The Ministry’s daily statistics show that in the last 24 hours, Nairobi posted 256 new infections, which is about 60 per cent of the country’s total infections.

However, informal settlement areas like Makadara sub-county, Roysambu, Kibra had over 20 new patients of Covid-19.

“In terms of Sub County distribution; the 256 cases in Nairobi are from Roysambu 25, Kibra 24, Dagoretti North and Embakasi West 19 cases each, as Makadara and Kamukunji have 18 new patients,” Kagwe’s statement read in part.

Machakos county, which borders Nairobi to the East South East, followed distantly with 36 more infections, Kilifi 26, Nyeri 19, Nakuru 18, Kiambu 17 as the rest posted less than ten cases in the last 24 hours.

This even as the country records 431 more infections from a sample size of 5, 281. The positivity rate at 8.2 per cent.

This pushes the caseload to 193,189 as of Tuesday, July 19.

On the contrary, 595 patients recovered from the virus. Total recoveries now stand at 182,921.

“of the recoveries recorded so far, 146,284 are from the home-based care and isolation program, while 36,637 are from various health facilities,” Kagwe said.

Sadly, 8 patients have succumbed to the disease, pushing the cumulative fatalities to 3, 783.

“All of them are late deaths reported after conducting facility record audits in the months of March and June 2021” the CS explained.

Ministry reports some 1,224 patients are currently admitted to various health facilities, while 4,358 are under home-based care. Another 134 patients are in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), 35 of whom are on ventilator support and 70 on supplemental oxygen. 29 patients are under observation.