Kenya records 4,000 teenage pregnancies during Covid-19 lockdown

Kenya has recorded a sharp rise in cases of teenage pregnancy as a result of the Covid-19 lockdown. According to Kenya’s Health Information Survey, Machakos County, located in the North-Eastern province, has the highest cases of teenage pregnancy.

This upsurge cuts short the pursuit for education among school-going girls, Africanews reported.

Data available show that during the five months period of restrictions, 3, 964 girls aged 19 years and below were reported pregnant.

“During the coronavirus pandemic, we do have 4, 000 impregnated girls. These are so many innocent girls,” Machakos Country Children Officer, Salome Muthama said.

She added that these cases were mostly as a result of defilement from close family members. “How can a 12-year-old girl become a mother?” She quizzed.

“All the people who have impregnated these children needs to be arraigned but it is becoming a challenge. We need special court sittings to address and deal with these cases,” Salome said.

Meanwhile, Kenya recorded its highest number of positive Covid-19 cases on Wednesday, June 17, 2020. The new cases of 184 add to the over 4, 000 already recorded by the Ministry of Health.

According to the Chief Administrative Secretary of Health, Dr. Rashid Aman, the 184 cases were from a sample size of 2, 518, tested in the last 24 hours. He warned that such figures have the potential to quickly overwhelm the healthcare facilities.

“We must not allow this to happen. I am appealing to our people to seriously observe the containment measures since our numbers of positive cases are steadily rising, further confirming the facts that community transmission is now well established,” he noted.