Kenya's COVID-19 cases reach 81, chloroquine treatment likely
Kenya has toppled Rwanda to become the most impacted mainland East African country with 81 cases as against Rwanda’s 75.
Government is struggling to enforce an evening curfew that started late last week.
The country confirmed its biggest tally hike for a day with 22 new cases out of a number of people on quarantine.
Out of the figures, 18 were nationals with two Cameroonians and Pakistanis.
So far three people have recovered while one death was recorded days back.
A Senegalese medic recently defended the use of the drug saying its benefits outweighed the risks many people feared.
As a measure of treatment, the Kenyan government has approved the use of chloroquine, one of the oldest antimalarial drugs, to treat the coronavirus, according to a local news outlet Citizen TV.
The drug will however be administered strictly to critical patients, Health Director General Patrick Amoth is quoted as saying.
Dr Amoth said at the moment there were no critical cases to warrant such an intervention. Most cases are mild and the authorities are treating the symptoms for now, he is quoted as saying
Last month, the Pharmacy and Poisons Board banned the sale of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine over the counter at pharmacies.
The ban was a move to prevent people from stocking or using the drug as a preventive measure for the virus.
Nigeria’s Lagos recorded spike in cases of chloroquine overdose after US President Donald Trump hyped the medicine as treatment for coronavirus.
Medical authorities in the US denied that it had been approved for treatment.
Medical experts say chloroquine requires further clinical study and might not be the cure of Covid-19.
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