Kenya confirms first coronavirus case, bans public events
Kenya has confirmed its first Coronavirus case.
Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe on Friday said the patient is a 27 year-old Kenyan who travelled from the US via London.
He said that although the patient, a Kenyan, is stable and eating, she will not be released from hospital until she is confirmed negative.
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The woman is at Kenyatta National Hospital’s Infectious Disease Unit.
The government says it has traced all contacts the patient made since her arrival.
“We have done all the contact tracing and have all the names including the people who sat next to her on the flights she took,” he said.
Kenya has also suspended all travel outside the country unless necessary while sporting events, open-air religious meetings and ‘all events of a huge public nature’ have been banned.
The CS said every level 4 and 5 hospital in the country will have an isolation ward funded by the Ministry of Health and the World Bank.
Kenya, the richest economy in sub-Saharan Africa and a major hub for global firms and the United Nations, is the 11th country in the region to confirm a case of COVID-19, bringing its total reported cases to 39.
