"We are witnessing an exercise in laxity on the part of our people. To do so when it comes to Covid-19 security measures and it is really disheartening because if you don't believe that this situation is true, you will have to expect pictures of what is happening in our hospitals when they get to the point where people are missing beds in the ICUs."
Yet another warning from the Ministry of Health comes on the sidelines of yesterday's press conference by Health Chief Mercy Mwangangi, who confirmed the high percentages of the past few days, i.e. above 22%, in announcing 1504 cases of virus positivity, half of which, as often happens, were registered in the capital Nairobi.
On the same day, a statement signed by the MPDC Association of Doctors also arrived, denouncing the lack of beds in the main city hospitals, including the 86 places at Kenyatta Hospital, all full, the 36 at Nairobi Hospital, the 32 at Kenyatta University Referral Hospital and the 6 at MP Shah, while only at Nairobi West Hospital there are still 23 free places out of 46. An alarming situation that if the numbers continue to rise as the trend of recent days suggests, could lead to collapse.
The cases refer to 9,348 swabs analysed in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of official positives to 124,707 since the pandemic began.
There are nearly 100 foreigners among the 1,446 people who have tested positive for Covid-19.
The death count adds 18 new deaths linked to the virus, bringing the total to 2,066.
184 patients recovered from the disease in the last 24 hours. 95 were in home isolation, while 89 came from various health facilities. The total number of cures now stands at 90,770.
Another 1073 patients are in various health facilities while 3,315 are in home isolation.
Then there are the most serious cases: 141 are in the intensive care unit, 34 are on ventilatory support, 99 are on supplementary oxygen and 8 are under observation.
§Another 60 patients are on supplementary oxygen, while 43 of them are in the general wards and 12 in the high dependency unit.
In various parts of the country, checks have been stepped up in the last two days on those who do not respect the rule of wearing a mask when in public places. From Nakuru to Malindi many citizens have been arrested and had to pay a fine for their behaviour that did not comply with pandemic prevention protocols.