Revealed: Kenya to Flatten COVID-19 Curve in the next few Days

Kenya has recorded a consistent decline in COVID-19 infections over the last few days, with the last tally announced by the ministry of health on August 31, 2020 falling below 4%.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a country is considered to have flattened the curve only if it is daily positivity recording stands below 5% for at least 14 days.

Besides Kenyan daily recordings being relatively low over the last one week, WHO warns Kenyans against early celebrations.

“For now we would warn against premature relaxation of the effective measures put in place by the Kenyan government, we advise that the wearing of masks, the frequent washing or sanitizing should remain in place,” WHO said.

The organization observed that more testing needs to be done to capture a greater proportion of suspected cases within the testing regime.

WHO noted that medical specialty, health systems, and public health surveillance considerations needs to be factored in deciding whether the decline implies an interruption of transmission and review of interventions.

‘While these are encouraging quality indicators that may be used as a proxy to decreased transmission, the findings should be treated with caution,’ reads an excerpt of the WHO statement.

While commenting on the matter on Monday, President Uhuru Kenyatta said the country had done remarkably well and that is why Kenya had begun to flatten the curve an assertion that sent a flicker of hope throughout the country.

He also said that the country must analyze the changes that the virus unfolds now that the country is at the inflection point and the curve can either flatten and de-escalate or take an upward surge. Urging that we must not celebrate this happy moment too soon, but rather celebrate it with caution…the curve begins to flatten after it reaches its highest point, and is the most dangerous point.

Kenya’s report is encouraging but the report on covid19 cannot be stated conclusively, since the positivity rate can be interpreted only with comprehensive surveillance and testing of suspected cases, for an increased conclusive report on whether the curve is flattening.

WHO said this criterion should not be seen in isolation and requires widespread testing to be able to interpret this. Kenya has recorded a slight drop in the cases during the month of August even as senior officials warned that flattening the curve might take longer.