Kenya’s COVID-19 infections have surpassed 1,000 after the country reported its highest daily new infections on Wednesday.
Cabinet Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Mutahi Kagwe, announced 66 new cases, bringing the country’s total number to 1,029.
The East African country has seen a recent spike in infections after it increased mass testing to help curb further spread of the virus.
Kagwe noted that of the new cases reported, 64 were Kenyans while the other two were foreign nationals.
Kenya is now the 18th country in Africa to register more than 1,000 cases as the continent continues to see a steady rise in infections.
Data from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention shows that Africa has registered more than 88,000 COVID-19 cases with over 2,800 deaths.
Kagwe in his briefing announced an extension of a cessation of movement order affecting Nairobi’s Eastleigh estate and Mombasa’s Old Town, which was earmarked as a hotspot for the spread of COVID-19. The lockdown will now last until June 6.
“This is essential to keep the areas still contained so that in the next few days, we can finally bring some form of control to all those areas so that the disease does not continue spreading,” the Cabinet Secretary said.
