NAIROBI, May 26 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's Ministry of Health said Wednesday it has developed targeted interventions to reduce the burden of non-communicable diseases that are linked to a higher toll of COVID-19 fatalities.

"We have come up with interim guidelines to prevent and manage non-communicable diseases in the light of the pandemic," Cabinet Secretary for Health Mutahi Kagwe told a virtual forum on the nexus between lifestyle diseases and COVID-19 held in Nairobi.

The government has put robust measures in place to facilitate the seamless provision of care to patients with chronic diseases and shield them from the risk of contracting and succumbing to coronavirus, he said.

It has implemented interventions including adequate funding, training of health workers, public awareness and timely diagnosis to strengthen the response to non-communicable diseases like diabetes and hypertension, Kagwe said.

Ministry of Health data show that non-communicable diseases account for 50 percent of hospital admissions and 42 percent of deaths in Kenya.

Kagwe said that urbanization, environmental pollution, and sedentary lifestyles have escalated the non-communicable disease crisis in Kenya amid strain on household budgets and public health infrastructure.

Ephantus Maree, head of the Non-communicable Diseases Unit in the Ministry of Health, said chronic ailments have accounted for about 43 percent of COVID deaths since the onset of the pandemic in March last year.

Investments in research, surveillance, and screening at the community level are key to reducing the burden of non-communicable diseases in Kenya, he said. - Xinhua

Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe. Photo Ministry of Health, Kenya

The Ministry of Health on Sunday announced that 324 more people in Kenya had tested positive for Covid-19, following the analysis of 4,392 samples in the last 24 hours.

This placed the country's positivity rate at 7.4 percent and the number of confirmed infections at 168,432.

Of the new patients, 298 were Kenyans and 26 foreigners, 223 male and 101 female, the youngest one year old and the oldest 91 years.

Kiambu County accounted for 84 of the new cases and was followed by Nairobi with 68, Homa Bay 28, Mombasa 27, Kisii 19, Nyeri 17, Kilifi 13, Isiolo and Meru seven each, and Kisumu and Uasin Gishu six each.

Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe, in a statement to newsrooms, further reported 10 more deaths, raising the toll to 3,059.

Two of the deaths occurred in the last 24 hours while eight were confirmed after the audit of facility records over the last one month.

CS Kagwe also announced that 85 more people recovered from the disease, 53 of them under home-based isolation and care and 32 in hospital.

The total number of recoveries rose to 114,537, he said, adding that as of Sunday, 1,084 patients had been hospitalised at facilities countrywide while 4,751 were being treated at home.

Of those in hospital, 121 were in intensive care units (ICU), 25 of whom are on ventilator support, 68 on supplemental oxygen and 28 patients under observation. - CGTN (With input from Ministry of Health Kenya)

A health worker is seen as people wait to receive coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccine as part of the vaccination campaign for health workers and people over 65 years old at Muyumba Health Center in Kigali, Rwanda on March 05, 2021. Photo Habimana Thierry/Anadolu Agency

Rwanda halted coronavirus vaccination because of delays in deliveries that has created a vaccine shortage here, an official said Tuesday. 

Director-General of the Rwanda Biomedical Centre Sabin Nsanzimana said the number vaccinated in Rwanda is still low.

Rwanda wants to vaccinate 30% of the population by the end of 2021 and 60% by the end of 2022.

About 350,400 people have received jabs as of Tuesday, representing just 5% of the population.

Nsanzimana said 500,000 doses of the vaccine Rwanda procured from India have yet to arrive, following a health crisis that affected vaccine supplies to developing countries.

He assured the country that efforts were underway to procure vaccines from elsewhere that could be delivered soon.

The Health Ministry announced a testing drive in the capital, Kigali, on Monday, targeting passengers of public buses, private cars and motorcycle drivers hoping to collect 2,000 samples in three days.

It is intended to provide a better understanding of the pandemic’s prevalence in identified areas and groups, according to the ministry.

The East African country recorded 26,344 COVID-19 cases, 24,808 recoveries and 346 deaths as of Tuesday.

The government launched nationwide vaccinations for at-risk groups who were identified as a priority in early March -- health personnel, frontline workers and those older than 65 or with underlying health conditions.

It later extended eligibility, including those older than 60, security personnel, market vendors and public transport drivers.

Rwanda received its first shipment of 240,000 doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine and 102,960 doses of the Pfizer vaccine in March from the COVAX facility -- a worldwide program intended to allow equitable access to coronavirus vaccines directed by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and the World Health Organization. - James Tasamba, Anadolu Agency