Kenya on Thursday reported its highest single-day spike in COVID-19 cases, just three days after President Uhuru Kenyatta announced a gradual relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions.
The East African country reported 447 new COVID-19 infections, taking its total tally to 8,975.
Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe announced the figures in a press briefing in Mombasa, one of the country’s hot spots.
Kagwe noted that Kenya has now registered four new COVID-19-related deaths, bringing its total number to 173.
He urged Kenyans to continue adhering to COVID-19 regulations in a bid to curb further spread of the disease.
President Kenyatta on Monday announced the reopening of the country’s locked down regions and a planned reopening of the country’s international airports from 1 August.
The latest update by Kenya comes as the World health organization urged countries around the world to use the lessons drawn from the COVID-19 pandemic to better prepare for future health crises that may arise.
“Even as we fight this pandemic, we must be readying ourselves for future global outbreaks and the many other challenges of our time such as antimicrobial resistance, inequality and the climate crisis,” said the WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom. “COVID-19 has taken so much from us. But it is also giving us an opportunity to break with the past and build back better.”
