Kenya's Health Chief Administrative Secretary Mercy Mwangangi on Sunday stated the country reached a new COVID-19 cases peak, accounting for 1.153 new positive patients out of 9.316 conducted tests.
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As of Sunday morning, Kenya had reported 156.318 COVID-19 cases and 2.603 related deaths.
Taking into account the world's current situation, these figures may seem not so worrying, but the reality is very different. African countries like Kenya have a relatively low infection rate, but this means a heavy burden for their health systems and economies.
"The growth in cases is putting unparalleled stress on our health system. In the past 13 days, the hospital admission rate has increased by 52 percent, and over 950 new patients were in intensive care unit wards for COVID-19-related complications," said Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Their responsiveness to COVID-19 is limited by their scarce economic resources, the lack of duly trained health personnel, and high poverty rates.
In Kenya, for example, about two million people in the capital live in densely populated informal settlements, many of which have limited supplies of clean water, and residents encounter challenges in adhering to social distancing measures.