This archive report was first published on 11 May 2020.
On Sunday, May 10, 2020, the Ministry of Health in Kenya expressed concern over the rising number of COVID-19 deaths in Mombasa, with two more patients succumbing to the disease.
Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe linked the high mortality to residents' refusal to be tested, saying people are getting sick at home and not reporting to health facilities, and there is also a resistance to testing in the Coast.
"If a person is sick and you try and hide them or try to help them at home then you will be in problems," Mr. Kagwe warned.
He urged Kenyans to take up tests, saying the government is trying as much as it can to trace all contacts in an effort to contain the disease.
Two deaths were reported on Sunday, bringing the total number of deaths in the region to an already increasing number. On May 6, Mr. Kagwe announced the deaths of two people who were only discovered to have the virus after their medical cases had been closed.
Additionally, on Friday, the county announced the death of yet another individual who had escaped from isolation with four others the previous day. On Saturday, Health Chief Administrative Secretary Rashid Aman announced yet another death in the Coast.
According to the Ministry of Health, the national tally of confirmed cases stands at 672, with 32 patients discharged from various hospitals bringing the number of recoveries to 239.
The new cases are distributed in four counties: 12 in Mombasa, six in Mandera, four in Nairobi, and one in Kajiado. Twenty of the cases were picked by surveillance teams and three from mandatory quarantine centres.
As part of efforts to contain the spread of the virus, the government has come up with new guidelines to be used by truck drivers along the transport corridors between Mombasa and Tanzania, Uganda, Somalia, and Ethiopia.
"Truck drivers have been recognised as a risk population for the spread of Covid 19, and a number of those who have tested positive have been netted across the border points," Director of Public Health Francis Kuria said.
