Politicians have been accused of largely attributing to the spike of Covid-19 in the country as coronavirus infections grow by the day.
Speaking at the Ministry headquarters, Afya House, Nairobi, Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe said the current spike has been driven in large part by politicians.
“We are appealing to the political class to please be sensitive, to the situation that is currently in play, we are also asking citizens to please avoid those political gatherings…,” he said.
He warned of a spike in cases, urging Kenyans to continue adhering to Covid-19 protocols, to help contain the spread of the disease.
“People are talking about a 4th wave we never got out of third wave… What we are experiencing is spike in cases at positivity rate of eleven per cent,” said Kagwe.
He noted that the prevailing situation has been worsened by the highly infectious delta variant that is also resulting in more severe symptoms.
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.
The Ministry yesterday 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.
By yesterday, the country recorded 1,006 new Covid-19 cases from a sample size of 5,584 tested in the last 24 hours marking a positivity rate of 18.0 per cent.
In a statement issued, the Ministry of Health said the total confirmed positive cases are now 199,941 while the cumulative tests so far conducted are 2,109,581.
However, 13 patients are reported to have succumbed to the disease, all of them being late deaths reported after conducting facility record audits on diverse dates in the month of July 2021 pushing the cumulative fatalities to 3,895.
Meanwhile, 261 more patients have recovered from the disease with 228 from various health facilities countrywide while 33 are from the Home Based Isolation and Care program.
Total recoveries now stand at 187,824 of whom 149,788 are from the Home Based Care and Isolation program, while 38,036 are from various health facilities countrywide.
According to the Ministry of Health, a total of 1,386 patients are currently admitted in various health facilities countrywide, while 3,686 are under the Home-Based Isolation and Care program.
Some 174 patients are in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), 41 of whom are on ventilatory support and 82 on supplemental oxygen.
51 patients are under observation while another 433 patients are separately on supplemental oxygen with 387 of them in general wards and 46 in High Dependency Units (HDU).
On the ongoing vaccination exercise, a total of 1,692,793 vaccines have so far been administered across the country.
Out of these, total first doses are 1,052,343 while second doses are 640,450.