Kenya's Health Minister Mutahi Kagwe is very concerned about the continuing increase in the percentage of cases compared to tampons, day after day, in his country. So much so that even at the press conference on Sunday 18 October, which followed an extraordinary meeting for the Covid-19 emergency, he confirmed that if citizens do not return to consider the pandemic as serious and to respect the basic security measures, they will be forced to ask President Kenyatta for new restrictive measures. In particular, Kagwe has pointed the finger at the bars that, since they have been allowed to reopen and sell alcohol, and close their shops at 10 p.m., have failed to take into account security measures, social distances and to enforce protocols with their customers. But also to other categories, without saving politicians and doctors themselves.
"There is no sign of withdrawal of the virus," said the Minister, "the infections that can be contracted in a pub could lead to contagion of children attending school and hence to a domino effect. We are seeing a worrying return to normality even among health workers. Normal behaviour will have abnormal consequences".
Kagwe said that the country is also observing the behaviour of politicians who held rallies where people did not adhere to the basic anti-Covid-19 rules, such as the use of masks, observance of social distance and sanitation.
"If the leaders do not observe the measures, the signal they send to the public is that all is well," continued Kagwe. "Someone has to take responsibility and this starts with the leaders.
Meanwhile, yesterday, 685 new positives were announced by Coronavirus on 4912 swabs analyzed, with the percentage rising another point and exceeding 13%.
There is also an increase in the number of inpatients who have grown back to 991 in a few weeks across Kenya, with 28 in intensive care, 10 in ventilation and 14 in oxygen therapy.
However, on 18 October another 105 people were discharged, 73 from home care and 32 from hospitals, bringing the number of healings to 31,857.
A further seven deaths brought the number of deaths in Kenya to 832.
Nairobi recorded 141 new cases, Nakuru 127, Mombasa 73, Trans Nzoia 61, Kisii 37, Kiambu 30, Kakamega 27, Kisumu 27, Busia 20, Kilifi and Nandi 18 each, Nyeri and Turkana 14 each.
"There is no doubt that we are heading for a second wave," concluded Kagwe, "since we have loosened measures, we have seen worrying trends in many of our regions. Counties like Kilifi that had experienced considerable containment are starting to register a high number of positive cases. Other counties such as Nakuru, Turkana, Transzoia, Kisii, Kisumu and Bungoma are also on a worrying path.