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The Health Ministry expressed concern over the increasing number of Covid-19 deaths in Mombasa after two more patients succumbed on Sunday.
Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe on Sunday linked the high mortality to residents’ refusal to get tested.
“People get sick at home and don’t report to health centers, and we’re also seeing resistance to testing on the coast,” he said.
He added: “If a person is sick and you try to hide it or try to help them at home, then they will have problems.”
Kagwe said the government is doing everything possible to trace all contacts in an effort to contain the disease, but urged Kenyans to carry out the tests.
On May 6, Kagwe announced the deaths of two people who were only found to have the virus after their medical cases were closed. “Both 68 and 72 years old died at home,” he said.
On Friday, the county announced the death of another person who had escaped isolation with four other people the previous day.
On Saturday, chief administrative health secretary Rashid Aman announced another death on the coast. The national count of confirmed cases is 672.
At the same time, about 32 patients were discharged from various hospitals, bringing the number of recoveries to 239. Of the new infections found in 1,054 samples, 13 were men, while 10 were women: 22 Kenyans and one Burundian.
The new cases are spread across four counties: 12 in Mombasa, six in Mandera, four in Nairobi, and one in Kajiado.
Twenty of the cases were selected by surveillance teams and three from the mandatory quarantine centers. In the four Nairobi cases, two are in Umoja and one in Pipeline and Komarock.
In Mombasa, the 12 new cases are distributed in three states: Kisauni and Likoni, two each and eight in Mvita. In terms of age, new infections are between one year and 80 years old.
In consultation with other East African countries, the government has developed new guidelines for truck drivers to use to stop the spread of the virus along transport corridors between Mombasa and Tanzania, Uganda, Somalia, and Ethiopia.
“Truckers have been recognized as a population at risk by the spread of Covid 19, and several of those who have tested positive have been crossed through border points,” said Director of Public Health Francis Kuria.
He added: “By looking at the number of cases developing in Mombasa and where the port is, it is likely that drivers are importing the virus from Mombasa through transport corridors and into other countries.”
In the guidelines, it is a requirement that before any driver begins a trip, they must have performed a Covid-19 test 48 hours prior to their trip.
“This is because it takes 24 hours for the method used for testing to publish the result,” he said.
Along the corridors, there will be verification points where certificates confirming the status of the tests will be verified.
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