The government is considering a lockdown among other stringent measures if the spiking coronavirus infections are not contained soon.
After two months of being on hiatus, Covid-19 cases have been reported in recent days with fears that Omicron variant could be fueling fresh surge. As it stands now (December 6), there has been one positive test result for this pathogen at six times what was seen just last week which shows how quickly things can change when left unchecked by medical professionals and scientists alike who work towards finding cures every day.”
The rate at which people are getting the Sars-Cov 2 virus is concerning. The World Health Organization says anything above five percent of an entire population should be concerned, and that 201 out 4011 samples tested positive for this particular strain Sunday from the Ministry’s sample size (around 2k). However yesterday 149 more were found to have been infected after analyzing data on 2880 subjects in total.
“From the cases 143 are Kenyans while six are foreigners. 81 females and 68 are males. The youngest is a one-year-old child while the oldest is 97 years,” Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe said in a status report.
“Total confirmed positive cases are now 256,484 and cumulative tests so far conducted are 2,891,893.”
The spiking infections have left Mr Kagwe and his team concerned, with the CS saying they would consider many options to arrest the trend.
“We expect the modelling team and scientists to meet and consider the emerging situation and advise the NERCC [National Emergency Response Committee on Coronavirus]. If a reintroduction of the lockdown and other stringent measures is recommended for consideration by the NERCC, we shall consider it appropriately,” he told the Nation.
“There is a process for consideration of what measures to take that has served us well in the past and we do not want to abuse it.”
When President Uhuru Kenyatta restricted movement in and out of Nairobi, Kajiado, Machakos, Kiambu and Nakuru, five counties that were considered Covid-19 hotbeds in March 2020, the positivity rate stood at 22 percent.
He urged Kenyans to observe Covid-19 guidelines, including wearing of face masks, social distancing and handwashing on top of getting vaccinated. Health experts are also warning Kenyans against dropping their guard.
“Dear Kenyans. There is indeed a bug going around with similar clinical features to Covid-19. Yes, it could be seasonal flu. Just remember that Sars-Cov-2 enters your system in exactly the same way as that bug,” Prof Lukoye Atwoli, dean of the Medical College at Aga Khan University, said in a tweet. “So your risk of getting Covid-19 is high if you get the bug. If you protect yourself adequately from Covid-19 you’ll probably be safe from the circulating respiratory bug as well.”
Last month, scientists predicted that Kenya would experience a fifth spike in Covid-19 infections towards the end of November and beginning December.
Unlike the third and fourth waves, they said a spike was more likely than a wave. On Thursday, the director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) warned countries across the continent to ready themselves for another spike.
“We already have Omicron in seven countries. It is inevitable that we will experience another surge and that is why we are calling on people to get vaccinated,” said Dr John Nkengasong at a weekly briefing.
In South Africa, where Omicron has been detected for the first time in 2016-17 academic year (and not yet reported), data shows that some of symptoms—blocked or runny nose– differ from those associated with other variants while others like headache sore throat body aches indicate an infection. Preliminary studies show it does not cause severe illness; deaths mainly occur among unvaccinated individuals
The recent data on the severity of current cases show that while it is low, infections do require hospitalization. In contrast with this trend as well as other previous ones where infection rates were much higher in some areas than others because they occurred nearready endemic regions or after an epidemic had subsided – now many people infected have milder forms which can be treated at home without requiring any form medical care outside their homes unless symptoms worsen over time and warrant attention from a physician
-Unlike Delta variant however these healthier looking individuals may not always offer protection against further spread due to lack awareness meaning there’s still got risk involved when living closely alongside someone who has been recently exposed
In real life, it is rare to find people who are infected with the Delta variant of Ebola. Hospitals in South Africa can also report low numbers when compared against current community rates and previous waves that had higher mortality rates than what we see nowadays thanks to treatment options like oxygen therapy being available for those patients requiring it more often due their illness severity or how quickly they got ill (such as healthcare workers).
