Africa-Press – Kenya. There is no cause for alarm on the increase of Covid-19 infection rates, a health expert has said.
The expert has allayed fears that the country may be headed to another Covid-19 wave despite a rise in cases in the recent days.
Dr Bernard Muia, global health expert has however said that in mid-July, the country is likely to have more positive cases because this will be the peak of the cold season.
“The issue of another wave of Covid-19 was predicted between April and May but there is no cause for alarm. I anticipate that in June and July, there will be increased cases,” Muia told the Star on Friday.
“But going forward, it is important for people to observe the healthcare protocol and vaccination,” he added.
Muia said the cases that are coming up are mild, and the rate of hospitalisation is flat and the death rate or fatality rate is going down.
“We are almost reporting zero percent on this,” he said.
According to the weekly Covid update form the Ministry of Health, the country has witnessed a steady rise in the positivity rate this week with the highest being recorded on Tuesday at 3.3 per cent after 75 people tested positive for the virus from a sample size of 2,248.
The rate shot from 0.9 per cent on Sunday to 2.2 per cent on Monday. The data further indicated that the rate was 1.9 per cent on Wednesday and three per cent on Thursday.
However, the data shows that no fatalities have been reported in this week, making the deaths to remain at 5,651 since Sunday when two deaths were recorded.
The number of hospital admissions has also remained relatively low at three cases in the past week, but the number of patients under home based care programme has been on the rise in the past week.
From the data, the number was 296 on Monday, shot up to 335 on Tuesday, 376 on Wednesday and to 378 on Thursday.
Late last month, Health CS Mutahi Kagwe said Kenyans were letting down the ministry, yet it has done everything possible to deliver vaccines everywhere.
“When we look at our daily Covid-19 vaccination rates, we get so perturbed by the failure of our people to do what they must to prepare for the next likely Covid wave,” he said.
According to the ministry, Covid-19 cases could rise during the June-July cold season.
The World Health Organisation said that seasonality is not yet fully established for SARS-COV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19.
However, “evidence from the past two years supports the notion of more substantial transmission during the winter season,” WHO said in a statement.
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