Kenya's virus-deaths top 3,000 mark as infections rise beyond 165,000

FILE PHOTO: Passengers on board a train on the Mombasa-Nairobi Railway in Kenya wear masks in line with government-imposed measures to curb spread of COVID-19, July 13, 2020. /VCG

The number of coronavirus-related deaths in Kenya has surpassed the 3,000 mark even as the country continues its fight against the pandemic.

The Ministry of Health announced 25 new fatalities on Saturday, raising the country's toll to 3,001.

The East African nation is now the eighth country on the continent to register virus-fatalities exceeding 3,000.

The ministry also announced 267 new infections from a sample size of 4,436 tests conducted in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of cases to 165,379.

In the same period, 57 patients recovered from the disease, taking Kenya's total number of successful recoveries to 113,489.

In efforts to contain the virus, the Kenyan government has imposed various measures, including the mandatory wearing of face masks, a nationwide nighttime curfew and a ban on large gatherings.

A mass vaccination drive is also currently going on. By Saturday, more than 933,000 people had already taken their first jabs.

The rollout of the second jabs is expected to commence in June.