Kenya’s coronavirus cases has risen to 1,286, after 72 individuals tested positive today, from a sample of 2,711.

Making the announcement today Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) for Health, Dr, Mercy Mwangangi said the number shows that Covid 19 infections are yet to stabilize with Nairobi county recording the highest at 52 in the last 24 hours.

“This should be a concern to all of us, and it reminds us that we must remain vigilant and on high alert as a Nation at all times and focus our energies to comply with the containment measures and protocols advocated for, by the Government to stop the spread of the virus,” she advised.

So far the country has tested a total number of 61,971 samples today being day 74 since the first case was reported in the country.

Today, 70 of the positive cases are Kenyans, one is a Somali National and one is a Ugandan,  44 are males while 28 are females all aged between 12 years for the youngest and 78 years for the oldest.

Nairobi county has the highest with 52 followed by Mombasa which has 11, Kiambu 7, Isiolo and Turkana one each. Turkana, becomes the latest county to record a case and this now brings to 29 the counties that have reported Covid-19 cases.

In Nairobi, Langata has 21 cases; Dagoretti North 15; Kamukunji and Kibra four cases each, Embakasi East two, Kasarani three, Dagoretti South, Makadara and Mathare one case each.

In Mombasa, the cases are from; Nyali four, Mvita three, Kisauni three and Changamwe one while the seven cases in Kiambu County are from Limuru two, and one case each from Githunguri, Kabete, Ruiru, Thika and Kikuyu. Isiolo has one case from mandatory quarantine, and Turkana has one case from Kakuma.

Dr. Mwangangi also emphasized the importance of a healthy diet in strengthening  body immune systems, to fight diseases such as COVID-19 and in aiding speedy recovery.

“Individuals with underlying conditions and those that are malnourished, are at a greater risk of various infections, including viral infections, such as Covid-19. It is very important that we all pay great attention to what we eat, especially during this time of the on-going Covid-19 pandemic,” she said

Since the Covid 19 campaign started , the country had only two testing laboratories but now there are over 20 facilities strategically located in critical areas across the country she noted.

“This has reduced the turnaround time from sample collection to receipt of the results. Our plan is to have a testing facility in every County, she said and added that we have trained a total of 11,000 healthcare workers and 60,000 community health workers across the 47 counties. This number has enhanced our human resource capacity in our health facilities,” Dr. Mwangangi explained.

Acting Director General health, Dr. Patrick Amoth added that so far 34 medics have tested positive for Covid -19.  But since the number of positive cases has gone up up to over 1000, the percentage has automatically come down from 5.5 percent to about  1 and  2 percent,” he noted.