Kenyan health officials have confirmed three new cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. The new cases were announced by Cabinet Secretary for Health Mutahi Kagwe at a midday press conference on Wednesday.
The newly announced cases include a couple from Spain who arrived in Kenya via Dubai on March 5.
They also include a Burundian man who arrived in Nairobi from Dubai on Tuesday and was detected by health officials who detected his symptoms upon arrival at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
This comes after a Kenyan who traveled from the UK became the country’s fourth confirmed case on Tuesday.
Eleven other suspected cases have been tested and are awaiting results as they wait in the capital’s at Mbagathi Isolation Center, a special quarantine ward established in Nairobi to help fight the outbreak.
Seven more suspected cases have tested negative for the novel virus and are being processed for discharge to continue self-quarantine at home under close government supervision, the cabinet secretary said.
Kagwe emphasized that all the confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Kenya were imported. “It is now clear that the threat that we face, first and foremost, is the threat from Kenyans that are coming from overseas,” he told reporters.
