This archive report was first published on 1 July 2020.
July 1, 2020 - Kenya's COVID-19 cases continue to rise, with 186 healthcare workers testing positive for the virus since the first case was reported in mid-March.
According to Dr. Patrick Amoth, Director-General of Public Health, the government is committed to protecting medics from the virus by providing them with the required kits.
"I am glad to report that we have not lost any healthcare worker to COVID-19, and the latest positive cases were reported in Shalom Hospital in Athi River, but even those ones are doing well under care," Dr. Amoth said.
However, he admitted that healthcare workers are facing a challenge of handling many patients due to a lack of enough doctors, as recruitment is still ongoing.
"To address this, we are trying to recruit extra staff, not only because of COVID-19 but even post-coronavirus pandemic. Work is in progress in terms of the recruitment of the initial 5,000 healthcare workers," Dr. Amoth explained.
On Wednesday, during the Ministry of Health's daily media briefing, Chief Administrative Secretary Rashid Aman announced 307 new positive cases of COVID-19, the highest on a single day since March when the pandemic broke out in the country.
"Our numbers have started to increase, and today we have 307 positive cases, raising the total caseload to 6,673," Mr. Aman said.
The new cases were detected from 3,591 samples tested since Tuesday.
"I urge all Kenyans to play their part in helping bring the curve down," Mr. Aman pleaded, announcing that 50 patients had been discharged after recovering.
Kenya has so far discharged 2,089 patients, with 149 fatalities.
