Kenya confirms first case of COVID-19

Kenya's Health Ministry announced on Friday the country's first case of COVID-19, making it the 15th African nation to report an infection.

The patient is a female Kenyan citizen who returned to the country recently from the United States via London, Cabinet Secretary of the Ministry Mutahi Kagwe said at a news briefing in the capital city of Nairobi.

She has been admitted to an isolation facility and is in a "stable condition," Kagwe said, adding that the ministry is currently tracing who the patient has had recent contact with.

To contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, the Kenyan government has banned public gatherings, prison visits and inter-school sporting activities.