Nairobi — The increase in Covid-19 infection rates in the country should not be a cause for alarm, the Ministry of Health has said.

The ministry gave the assurance on Monday even as it ruled out the reintroducing of restrictions imposed at the onset of the pandemic to curb the spread of the virus.

Acting Director for Health Dr. Patrick Amoth said the number of persons being tested is low and not representative of the general population.

"We are not thinking of reinstating earlier measures that we had phased out. We believe the numbers are not representative of the actual situation and do not warrant reintroduction of such measures," Dr. Amoth stated.

The DG further added that the numbers tested comprise majorly of those looking for COVID free certification for travel purposes and not the general public.

"We are not worried over the increase in infection rates. We are testing considerably low number Kenyans who are majorly looking for travel documents. This is not representative of the Kenyan population," said Amoth.

Latest data availed on Sunday showed the country had within 24 hours tested 397 persons, a number way lower than the World Health Organization (WHO) prescribed standard of 1,000 tests per day to give an accurate picture of community infections.

Despite the spike in positivity rate that saw the country register an upwards of 15.1 per cent in the last 24 hours lapsing Sunday, admissions across the country still remained low.

DG Amoth said the number of persons admitted in health facilities across the country currently stood at 26, an indicator that health facilities are not strained with the surge in numbers.

Despite the increase in new infections among those tested, the uptake of COVID vaccines remains low with only 9.9 million adults vaccinated representing 36.4 per cent of the adult population.