MOH: Kenya still at risk from Covid-19

Posted on Feb 16, 2022

As various countries across the globe ease COVID-19 restrictions, especially when it comes to the use of masks, the Ministry of Health is warning that Kenya is not yet out of the woods.

According to global health experts, COVID-19 will become commonplace, but it does not mean this disease is no longer deadly.

For more than a week now, Kenya has recorded less than 100 new COVID-19 infections daily; At the moment, the country's positivity rate stands at 0.4%.

Given the scenario of few severe cases of COVID-19 reported, a number of Kenyans have opted to do away with what had become the norm, mask...

Canadian PM Trudeau declares national emergency due to ongoing truckers protests over Covid measures.

Posted on Feb 16, 2022

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has declared a national emergency in response to the ongoing truckers’ protests against various Covid-19 related measures including vaccine mandates.

Trudeau made the announcement invoking the Emergency Act, which was enacted in 1988, and never used before in the country’s history as the agitation entered its 18th day.

KEMRI launches first Malaria and COVID-19 test kits

Feb 15, 2022

Kenya will soon stop importing COVID-19 PCR kits and malaria Rapid test Kits after the Kenya Medical Research Institute(KEMRI), Tuesday launched the first ever locally manufactured kits for pathogen detection for the two deadly diseases.

Scientists have termed the news a milestone and a medical breakthrough with the two products approved for use by the Pharmacy and Poisons Board and will go a long way in reducing the cost of treatment in the country.

The launch of the COVID-19 PCR kits, KEMCoV, and the malaria Rapid test Kits, PLASMOCHEK was presided by the Chief Administrative Secretary in...

CS Kagwe risks jail term over Kemsa scandal

Posted on Feb 14, 2022

Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe risks a six-month jail term for disobeying court orders barring him from allowing the military to take over Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA).

In a certificate of urgency filed in court, Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) wants CS Kagwe committed to jail together with Chairperson of KEMSA board Mary Mwadime, and acting Chief Executive Officer John Kiumi Kabuchi for failure to honour orders issued last in November 2021.

Through their lawyer Henry Kurauka, KMPDU accuses the CS and KEMSA’s top officials of continuing to...

UK PM Boris Johnson signals early end to Covid-19 isolation rules

Posted on Feb 10, 2022

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Wednesday that laws requiring people in England with Covid-19 to self-isolate could be lifted by the end of the month, bringing an end to all domestic coronavirus restrictions.

People who test positive now have to isolate for five full days. That rule is to expire on March 24.

Johnson added he plans to present his plan for living with the virus when Parliament returns from a short break on Feb. 21.

Johnson's Conservative government dropped most remaining Covid-19 restrictions last month. Face masks are no longer mandatory anywhere in England, except on...

WHO laments 500,000 Covid death toll since Omicron

Posted on Feb 09, 2022

The World Health Organization lamented Tuesday that half a million Covid-19 deaths had been recorded since the Omicron variant was discovered, calling the toll "beyond tragic".

The WHO's incident manager Abdi Mahamud said that 130 million cases and 500,000 deaths had been recorded globally since Omicron was declared a variant of concern in late November.

Police to detain four suspects linked to murder of Nyahururu teacher

Feb 08, 2022

Four people linked to the murder of a Nyahururu teacher were Tuesday arraigned in court.

Nyahururu Chief Magistrate Charles Obulutsa however allowed detectives to continue holding the four, for 14 more days, until DNA analyses are done on remains suspected to be those of Miriam Wanjiru, that were recovered in a well over the weekend.

Appearing before the court was Wanjiru’s husband Peter Kanyi, his co-accused Antony Mutahi and two other women believed to be linked to her disappearance since December 17, last year.

The decomposing body of Ms Wanjiru, an English and Literature teacher at Bishop ...

End of Covid-19 pandemic in Europe ‘plausible’ after Omicron: WHO

Posted on Jan 24, 2022

In what appears as a silver lining in these days of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), the World Health Organisation (WHO) has for the first time in a while indicated that the pandemic could come to an ‘end’ in Europe after the current Omicron-driven wave passes over after infecting around 60 per cent of the population of the continent.

Hans Kluge, the WHO Europe director, told the AFP news agency that the Covid-19 pandemic has entered a new phase with the Omicron variant, which could infect 60 percent of people in Europe by March, and that could eventually bring the pandemic to an end.

“It i...

Reduced hospitalisation risk, shorter stays for Omicron patients

Posted on Jan 13, 2022

A preliminary US study of nearly 70,000 Covid positive people showed a substantially reduced risk of hospitalisation and death from Omicron even after controlling for growing population immunity levels.

People infected with Omicron were half as likely to be hospitalised, about 75 percent less likely to need intensive care, and around 90 percent less likely to die compared to those infected with the formerly dominant Delta variant, according to the paper.

‘Tsunami’ of new Covid-19 cases clog global health systems, WHO

Posted on Jan 07, 2022

In view of the rising number of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases around the globe, World Health Organisation (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Thursday said the “tsunami of cases” – driven by the new, highly transmissible Omicron variant – has now started to overwhelm health systems all across the globe.

In a new high, a record number of 9.5 million fresh Covid-19 cases were reported globally in the week between December 27, 2021, and January 2, 2022. The weekly epidemiological update issued by the WHO showed that the daily tally of global cases had increased sharply during this du...