After 318 days since the first case of Covid-19 was detected in the country, Kenya has reached the 100,000 mark for the virus. The already unceremonious average of 314 cases per day and about 9 per cent positive per swab, plummeted with the start of the new year, with the rate lately below 3 per cent.
Requests for swabs and the general perception that the Coronavirus can kill have dropped, so much so that there are currently only 25 patients in intensive care facilities in the country, while another 506 are in isolation facilities and 1469 are being treated at home.
Yesterday again, only 69 cases and no deaths were recorded, with the figure standing at 1744, while in the previous 24 hours four patients had died and the day before none. An average of 300-500 people were discharged or declared cured. It should also be noted that the overwhelming majority of cases are registered in Nairobi and in the adjacent county of Kitui. Also due to the lack of laboratory staff and reagents, only 3 cases were reported on the coast: 2 in Mombasa and one in Kwale County.
By now there are other things that worry us about the Covid-19 emergency in Kenya: first of all, the fear of the people to approach a public structure that triggers a whole series of problems. Especially in the poorest areas, people are at risk of dying from diseases that could be treated but are underestimated because people are reluctant to go to hospital.