Kenya coronavirus: Cases hit 281, 455 curfew defiers quarantined

Kenya’s case tally as of April 20 hit 281 with the addition of 11 new cases Health Minister Mutahi Kagwe confirmed in the daily briefing for COVID-19.

Seven of the new cases are from Mombasa County with the remaining from Nairobi county. He also disclosed that 455 people had been quarantined for defying curfew directives.

Kenya has East and Horn of Africa’s third highest tally as of today only behind runaway leaders Djibouti and Mauritius with 846 and 328 cases respectively.

Meanwhile, US ambassador Kyle McCarter came under fire for a coronavirus containment tweet when he tweeted about the low usage of face masks and observance of social distancing.

His tweet read: “Only a fraction of the wananchi [Swahili for citizens] are wearing masks and social distancing. None of us know the magnitude of this Wuhan flu but we must take basic known wise precautions.”

But tweeps questioned the ambassador on whether his country had donated masks to poor Kenyans who can’t afford them. In one response ambassador McCarter wrote: “You would not be able to test in Kenya if not for USA.”

cases hit 246, KQ refits planes, ‘stubborn’ priest held

The national tally stands at 246 as at midday local time according to the Standard Digital portal, the number is 12 more that the last official figure that stood at 246 as at close of day April 16.

Speaking in an address yesterday, President Uhuru Kenyatta said whiles progress had been made, there was more needed to be done. “We have lost 11 people to this disease and nearly one thousand are still in quarantine, and 156 in isolation facilities.

“Coronavirus is not a respecter of age, of status, of ethnicity or race: we have even seen leaders of countries get infected and had to seek serious medical attention.

“We applaud the students at Kenyatta University for developing a prototype of an inexpensive ventilator for use in our local hospitals,” he added.

KQ refits planes for cargo purposes

Kenya Airways (KQ) has converted four of its passenger aircraft into cargo carriers as part of its measures to lessen the impact of Covid-19 on its business.

“Kenya Airways this morning dispatched a cargo flight operated by our Boeing 787 Dreamliner passenger aircraft from Nairobi to London loaded with 40,000kgs of fresh produce,” said the national carrier in a statement.

“This is part of the innovative initiatives we have embarked on by converting four wide-body passenger aircraft to fit our cargo operations in order to reduce the impact of Covid-19 on operations.”

Analysts say the move is beneficial for the airline as well as for the horticulture sector in the East African country. the industry has suffered losses due to a lack of access to its key markets after the pandemic almost grounded global travel.

Like all African airlines, KQ has been hit hard by the cancellation of international flights, with most of its passenger planes grounded. The airline said it would now strive to meet the growing demand for freight aircraft. Africa’s biggest cargo operator remains Ethiopian Airlines