PRESS RELEASE: JUNE 29, 2020

The EU through its Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations department (ECHO) has donated KES 270 million (2,573,105 Million Euros) to WHO Kenya. This grant will be used by the WHO to support the Government of Kenya’s efforts to control the spread of the pandemic. Specifically, WHO Kenya will boost the response effort by training frontline health workers at national and county levels and strengthen the current work being done by the COVID-19 rapid response and clinical teams across all counties.

28 June 2020 — Twenty-two (22) new COVID-19 cases were identified out of 3002 samples tested today. This brings the cumulative number of confirmed cases to nine hundred (900). To date, four hundred and forty-three (443) patients have recovered and been discharged, including thirty (30) in the past 24 hours. The number of active cases is four hundred and fifty-five (455) and two (2) deaths.

27 June 2020 — Twenty (20) new COVID-19 cases were identified out of 4702 samples tested today. This brings the cumulative number of confirmed cases to eight hundred and seventy-eight (878). To date, four hundred and thirteen (413) patients have recovered and been discharged, including fifteen (15) in the past 24 hours. The number of active cases is four hundred and sixty-three (463) and two (2) deaths.

The Ninth WHO Global Forum for Government Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officers (GCNMOs) and the Eighth Triad Meeting organized jointly by WHO, the International Confederation of Midwives and the International Council of Nurses was held through a virtual meeting from the 16th to 19th June 2020.

The focus of the meeting was on COVID-19; evidence-informed policy dialogue to advance nursing and midwifery; and the global strategic directions for nursing and midwifery

Tuberculosis (TB) remains the world’s deadliest infectious killer. Each day, over 4000 people lose their lives to TB and close to 30,000 people fall ill with this preventable and curable disease. Global efforts to combat TB have saved an estimated 58 million lives since the year 2000. In Zimbabwe it is estimated that about 30,000 people fall ill of TB each year and about 4,600 of these, die.

The quality of vaccines is critical for good immunization outcomes. Vaccine quality determines uptake, safety and effectiveness of vaccines. This ultimately influences capacity of health systems to reduce morbidity and mortality due to vaccine preventable diseases.

26 June 2020 — Eight (8) new COVID-19 cases were identified out of 3763 samples tested today. This brings the cumulative number of confirmed cases to eight hundred and fifty-eight (858). To date, three hundred and ninety-eight (398) patients have recovered and been discharged, including thirteen (13) in the past 24 hours. The number of active cases is four hundred and fifty-eight (458) and two (2) deaths.

Rwanda concluded on 19th June its biannual Integrated Mother and Child Health Week organized from 15th to 19th June 2020. This event was first postponed in March 2020, due to the outbreak of COVID-19 in Rwanda. The Mother and Child week is organized twice a year and serves as an opportunity to scale up health services provision, particularly to the hard-to-reach and the most vulnerable populations.

KAMPALA, Uganda, 26 June 2020: The Government of Denmark, through the Royal Danish Embassy in Kampala, extended additional financial support of US Dollars 1,000,000 to the Government of Uganda through the World Health Organisation (WHO) to support the COVID-19 response. The grant is intended to procure additional testing kits to increase the testing capacity of laboratories at the national and regional level, particularly at the border points.