Kenya’s ministry of health has announced 497 people tested positive for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the last 24 hours.

The new infections bring total confirmed cases in the East African nation to 46,144.

In a statement on Wednesday, Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe said the latest cases are from a sample size of 4,888, bringing the number of cumulative tests done in the country to date to 632,669.

“Currently, there are 27 patints in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), 27 on ventilatory support and 41 on supplementary oxygen,” Kagwe said.

“A total of 1,189 are currently admitted in various health facilities and 2,661 are on home-based isolation care,” he added.

Kagwe said that from the latest cases, 471 are Kenyans while 26 are foreigners.

The youngest case is of a one-year-old while the oldest is 88, with 295 being male and 202 being female.

At the same time, recoveries have increased to 32,760 after 238 patients tested negative in the last 24 hours.

Of this number, 170 patients are from the home-based care programme while 68 have been discharged from various hospitals in the country.

On the other hand, fatalities have risen to 858 following the death of 16 patients over the last 24 hours.

Nairobi leads with 227 of the new cases, followed by Machakos (64), Mombasa (51), Uasin Gishu (37), Laikipia (28), Busia (19), Kajiado (11) and Embu (10).

Other cases were registered in Nakuru (9), Wajir (7), Kiambu (6), Kilifi (6), Kisumu (4), Nyeri (4), Makueni (3), Elgeyo Marakwet (2), Meru (2), Kisii (2) and Turkana (2). Narok, Homa Bay and Kakamega registered a case each.

Thirty-seven new Coronavirus infections have been reported across Nigeria with no COVID-19-related deaths in eight states and the Federal Capital Territory.

The Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) made this known on its official website on Wednesday.

The NCDC, however, said that 183 patients were discharged after testing negative to the virus across the country.

With the new update, the tally of infected people in the country rose to 61,667.

According to data obtained from its website, eight of the new cases were recorded in the FCT, seven in Lagos, five cases each in Taraba and Rivers.

While Adamawa recorded four cases, Kaduna had three, Anambra and Osun reported two cases each and Ogun confirmed one case.

The agency said that Nigeria had tested 595,283 persons since the first confirmed case was announced on 27 February, 2020.

According to the health agency, as of October 21, 2020, 56,880 cases have been discharged and 1,125 deaths recorded in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

It said that a multi-sectoral national emergency operations centre (EOC), activated at Level 3, have continued to coordinate the national response activities across the country.

The Namibian government on Wednesday received 10,000 face masks from the Chinese embassy to help the country’s customs and border officials ward off the spread of COVID-19.

Yang Jun, political counselor at the Chinese mission said “this is one of the many donations the Chinese people and different Chinese companies have contributed to Namibia”.

Yang, while handing over the consignment to Namibian Ministry of Finance officials said China, which has managed to control the virus, is firmly committed to working with other countries to combat COVID-19.

Francois Brandt, deputy executive director at the Namibian Ministry of Finance, thanked China for the donation.

“These masks will be distributed to our customs officials at the borders as well as countrywide. The donation comes at a very opportune time and will assist us significantly.’’