Hope as health ministry reveals Covid-19 prevention measures are working

The number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in Kenya has risen to
320. Among the 668 samples tested in the last 24 hours, 17 people have turned
out positive for the virus.

478 samples are from Nairobi and out of the 17 positive cases,
12 of them are from Mombasa. However, fifteen
of the seventeen cases were identified through the government’s surveillance
teams.

Speaking during the daily briefings by the Ministry of
Health, the Chief Administrative Secretary Mercy Mwangangi has revealed that
the containment measures employed by the ministry, including curfew enforcement,
quarantine, and travel restrictions are working, adding that two of the
seventeen cases are from the government quarantine facilities.

Mwangangi has urged those working in security institutions to
treat people in quarantine centres and Kenyans in general with dignity, as they
implement various government directives.

However, she noted that there is over-reliance on sanitizers,
urging Kenyans to instead wash their hands with running water and soap whenever
possible, explaining that washing hands is more effective, thus sanitizers should
be used less often.

She also emphasized that local transmission has been established
in the country and citizens should continue adhering to the measures put in
place, to reduce the spread of the deadly virus.

Regarding quarantine, the Mwangangi explained that contracting
Coronavirus is not a crime and more people from isolation centres are recovering.
Six people have recovered and been discharged bringing the total number of
recoveries in the county to 89.

To eliminate confusion among the public about asymptomatic
cases, she explained that the virus has an incubation period of 5-6 days, but
it takes up t0 14 days in some people.

The incubation period is the time between exposure and when someone
starts showing signs of having the disease. Some people test positive for the
virus three days after exposure. Therefore, it is possible to transmit the virus
even when a person is not experiencing symptoms of the Covid-19.