High deaths among youth worrying, says Mwangangi
George Kebaso @Morarak
At least 15 of 100 people who have died of Covid-19 are youth aged between 20 and 40 years, Health Chief Administrative Secretary, Mercy Mwangangi has said.
Speaking at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) yesterday, she said the trend is worrying as more young people are losing their lives to the disease, unlike in the past when it was thought to only affect those with pre-existing conditions and the elderly.
Mwangangi, therefore, challenged the young people to actively participate in the ongoing conversation on Covid-19 pandemic to address the rising infections in the country.
Change tide
“Initially there were less mortalities when dealing with sick children, but with the advent of Covid-19, this has changed the tide, and we are seeing more deaths.
An estimated 15 per cent of all Covid fatalities in the country are attributed to young people aged between 20 and 40,” she said while receiving an assortment of donations towards the fight against the virus.
These revelation tallies with April’s World Health Organisation (WHO) announcement that ‘more and more’ young people were dying from the virus.
Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of WHO’s emergencies programme cautioned that it was a mistake to believe that the virus only severely impacted older people and those with underlying conditions.
“We collectively have been living in a world where we’ve tried to convince ourselves that this disease is mild in young people and more severe in older people. That is where the problem is,” he said.
Yesterday, almost five months since WHO made the announcement, Mwangangi said, the trend is taking shape in Kenya because most young people are ignoring Covid-19 protocols.
She observed that the young people in the country represent the biggest population of Kenyans who are not wearing their face masks correctly.
“We could achieve 80 per cent reduction on the infection risk of Covid, if we wear our masks properly,” she said.
Mwangangi called for a deliberate move by health lobbyists to sensitise and demystify the common assumption that Covid-19 is not real.
“Kenyans, especially the young people must be told that Covid-19 is real,” she said.
Meanwhile, ICT Chief Administrative Secretary, Nadia Abdalla said the influence of the youth during a global crisis such as the Covid-19 pandemic should not be overlooked.
Save lives
She was speaking during a discussion with youth representatives in the ongoing National Youth Week to mark the International Youth Day.
“Young people are an essential asset worth investing in. They make up 75 per cent of the country’s population. This gives us more reasons to work with them,” she said.
She said young people have taken hold of all sectors of the society particularly in provision of health care services in response to the pandemic.
For instance, Nadia said the youth have been instrumental in the utilisation of digital technologies to save lives, spread public health information on proper measures to stop the spread of the virus as well as provide economic and social welfare.
