Does Kenya Have More COVID-19 Cases Than China?

There are posts on Twitter indicating that Kenya has reported a higher number of COVID-19 cases than China.

Kenya now has more reported coronavirus cases than China.

— Kaka Daves Kariuki (@daveskariuki) December 30, 2020

Kenya has more Covid-19 cases than China, the epicenter of the pandemic. 🙆🏿‍♂️

— Khotsa (@Mwangala_) December 17, 2020

Background

The first case of COVID-19 was reported in China’s Wuhan City on December 31, 2019. Egypt became the first African country to report the virus on February 14, 2020. Kenya reported the first COVID-19 case on March 13, shortly after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the disease a global emergency on March 11.

Verification

According to Kenya’s Ministry of Health, the cumulative number of COVID-19 cases in Kenya as of January 18 is 99,227.

65 people have tested positive to the disease, out of a sample size of 2,681 tested in the last 24 hours. The total confirmed positive cases are now 99,227. The cumulative tests so far conducted are 1,128,360.

— Ministry of Health (@MOH_Kenya) January 18, 2021

On the other hand, the WHO’s database indicates that the total number of COVID-19 cases in China is 98,794 as of January 18. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom has previously lauded the Chinese government for its “successful” measures in mitigating the spread of the virus.

“The Chinese government is to be congratulated for the extraordinary measures it has taken to contain the outbreak,” the Director-General said in a WHO committee meeting held on January 30, 2020.

In many ways, #China is actually setting a new standard for outbreak response. Our greatest concern is the potential for the virus to spread to countries with weaker health systems, and which are ill-prepared to deal with it. #2019nCoVhttps://t.co/GdUQZGvzkd

— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) January 30, 2020

According to a WHO report, the Chinese government’s success in mitigating the virus is attributed to the effective implementation of contact tracing, lockdown, isolation and quarantine measures.

Verdict

Reports that Kenya currently has more COVID-19 cases than China is TRUE.