Kenya has recorded 548 more Covid-19 positive cases in the last 24 hours as the country's total caseload rises to 91,526.
In a press statement on Saturday, December 12, Health CS Mutahi Kagwe announced that 6,953 samples had been tested in the last 24 hours.
Regrettably, four patients succumbed to the disease bringing the total number of deaths to 1,586.
Of the positive cases, 354 are male and 194 are female while the youngest case is a five-year-old child and the oldest is aged 96.
At the same time, 1,017 patients have recovered with 980 discharged from the home-based care program and 37 from the hospital around the country bringing the total number of recoveries to 72,596.
Currently, there are 982 patients admitted in various health facilities countrywide and 6,782 on Home Based Isolation and Care.
44 patients are in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), 27 of whom are on ventilatory support, and 15 on supplemental oxygen. 2 are on observation.
Another 47 patients are separately on supplementary oxygen out of whom 38 are in the general wards. Nine are in the High Dependency Unit (HDU).
In the distribution of the cases by counties, Nairobi leads with 158, Kilifi 145, Nakuru 37, Busia 27, Mombasa 27, Turkana 20 and Kajiado 18.
During his Jamhuri Day speech, President Uhuru Kenyatta noted that the country had advanced in medical facilities since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.
"When we were afflicted by the Covid-19 pandemic in March this year, we had only 8 infectious diseases ICU beds countrywide. Today, we have 827 infectious diseases ICU beds up from 8 beds in March this year," he observed.
He further stated that the country had tripled the number of isolation beds in the county to 20,910 from September 2020 when there 7,411 isolation beds nationally.
"In fact, in a very short period, we have installed medical equipment never seen in this country since independence.
"And by March 2021, once the K.U. Hospital’s Integrated Molecular Imaging Centre is completed, there will no longer be a need for any Kenyan to travel abroad in search of specialized Cancer Treatment. Our capacity will handle most medical conditions treated abroad," he noted.
He further addressed the plight of health workers where he assured that the government was working to protect them as they forged to build a robust healthcare infrastructure.
"I will never tire of thanking our healthcare workers for their dedication and selflessness, amid the greatest public health challenge of the modern era.
"Their professionalism, excellence, an unfailing commitment to their sacred oath and their sacrifices, must be reciprocated by Kenyans acting responsibly amid the Covid-19 pandemic," he stated.
