Thousands of Kenyans could have perished since March 2020 since the first case of the Covid-19 pandemic was first reported in the country but their deaths were omitted from the Covid related deaths national database, a recent research report by The Lancet.
The data shows that about 181 in every 100,000 Covid-19 deaths in Kenya were unaccounted for.
While the Ministry of Health only reported 5.7 per cent in every 100,000 deaths, the study shows that about 32 per cent of fatalities went with the wind.
Effectively, Kenya lacks an accurate data of actual fatalities occasioned by the pandemic.
The researchers explain that excess mortality linked to the Covid-19 pandemic is the difference between reported and expected deaths based on the pandemic trends.
They observed that the gaps exist because of diverse reasons since most hospitals failed to list Covid-19 as the cause of death in some patients who succumbed to the disease.
“Early in the pandemic, before tests were widely available, many deaths due to Covid-19 among older individuals in high-income countries, particularly in long-term care facilities, are unlikely to have been attributed to Covid-19 with evidence of extensive under-reporting in many locations,” the study says.
Separately, stock prices in China and Hong Kong sank for a second row following the shutdown of Shenzhen, a tech and finance hub.
Other economic activities were low following the surge of Covid-19 cases, with reports indicating at least 5000 new confirmed cases of covid-19. This number is the highest recorded by China since the pandemic began two years ago.
China’s case numbers are low compared with other major countries. But authorities enforce a “zero tolerance” strategy to keep out the virus.