The pandemic in Kenya is conditioned by the "S Factor".
Call it in English (Sun) or in Italian (Sole) but as long as he was there with his ultraviolet rays, his vitamins and his warmth, the daily cases in Kenya were minimal, especially compared to today and certain regions completely "Covid Free".
How to explain that from March 25 until three days ago the country was completely closed to the influx of tourists and open only to citizens and residents who still had to present a swab certificate executed or carry out quarantine, yet the internal cases have spread, even without apparent connections? Moreover, even the drop in cases in Italy has often been linked to the arrival of summer, just as the most affected countries of the African continent are those at the extremes, in temperate zones, where winter is almost like the Mediterranean, i.e. Egypt and South Africa.
The Kenyan Ministry of Health, with the approval of the continental leaders of the World Health Organization, with whom it has worked closely since the beginning of the emergency, continue to repeat that the climate is a predominant factor.
For two weeks now, the cold season has begun, with a queue of rain and strong winds over almost the entire country. Here are the positives and the deaths: from 1 or at most 3 per day before the big rains, to 10-12 with peaks of even about 20 in this period.
The cold seasons like this, which is our winter," Dr. Rashid Abdi Aman, Secretary of the Ministry, said yesterday, "can easily infect the lungs and worsen the risk of infection. Tuberculosis, for example, is on the rise this season. During this period, Kenya has seen an increase in tuberculosis and pneumonia as airborne diseases.
"S-factor", which is greatly needed. With the cold, moreover, poor Kenyan homes develop another trap that can encourage the onset of respiratory syndromes, the lighting of fires or charcoal inside huts and shacks that creates smoke. Abdi Aman urged Kenyans to cover up well and drink hot drinks but not to use rudimentary heating.
Yesterday, Monday, August 3, Kenya recorded 544 new cases of Coronavirus out of 2,653 samples tested in the previous 24 hours, and this is the highest percentage of positive swab people ever recorded, about 20%. The total number of Covid-19 cases in the country rose to 22,597 out of 318,376 samples tested since March 2020. Nairobi is still the epicenter of the pandemic. Yesterday only 100 of the reported cases did not arrive from the capital or its immediate vicinity. On the coast there are 11 positive tests: 9 in Mombasa, one in Kwale County and one in Kilifi County (not in Malindi and Watamu).
There are 13 deaths that bring the total number of patients who did not make it due to Covid-19 to 382. Of these, 10 had previous pathologies and the others were victims of TB or pneumonia, which were also positive for the virus. At the same time, 263 patients were declared cured and discharged. There are now 8740 infected people in Kenya who have won the infection.