Kenya has reported seven new cases of COVID-19, taking the country’s total number to 303.
The new figures were announced by Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe, who confirmed that all the new patients were Kenyans.
Kagwe also announced a lockdown of Mandera County in the northeast, as cases in the region continue to rise. Mandera is now the fifth county to be placed under temporary lockdown after Nairobi, Kilifi, Kwale and Mombasa.
The minister took the opportunity to warn Kenyans against defying government directives aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19. His warning came after some patients escaped from a quarantine facility in the capital, Nairobi.
Kagwe urged Kenyans to come forward with information about the whereabouts of the escapees, saying they posed a risk to public health safety.
“The general sentiment of comfort we are witnessing is severely misplaced. When we as a nation are complacent with a few officials exploiting this pandemic for personal gains or conversely, the idea that we can break curfews and not suffer any ramifications, then we know that we are heading in the wrong direction,” said Kagwe.
“There is nothing to celebrate when runaway impunity takes place at the risk of all of us.”
Kenya is one of 52 African countries that have reported cases of COVID-19. The East African country has recorded 296 cases and 14 deaths. Continentally, Africa has registered more than 23,000 cases and over 1,100 deaths.
Earlier, President Uhuru Kenyatta pledged that Kenya’s security authorities would apprehend the patients that escaped the quarantine facility.
Kenyatta urged Kenyans to take the disease seriously and act responsibly.
“Those that think this disease does not exist: for the safety of your family, and your loved ones, do that is necessary to protect them. Stay away. Do not put people at risk because you do not think it is serious,” said President Kenyatta.
The president said testing would be ramped up to boost Kenya’s fight against COVID-19. This was reiterated by Kagwe, who said the country planned to conduct 250,000 tests by the end of June.
