GoK can’t explain why more men are contracting coronavirus – Nairobi News

The government has acknowledged that men are at a greater risk of contracting the coronavirus as compared to women.

Speaking at the Ministry of Health’s daily press briefing on Tuesday, Health CAS Rashid Aman, however, could not explain the trend.

“Why more men, fewer women? There can be very many theories to try and explain that and there are also scientific studies being undertaken to try and understand that,” Dr Aman said.

He says the cause of the disease is the same in both sexes.

“At this point and time, there is no clear answer why more men are affected than women. The cause of the disease is the same in both sexes. That is a question that will be answered in time once research sheds light on the factors,” he went on.

Kenya had by Tuesday recorded 14,168 positive coronavirus cases. And out of the 397 cases recorded on Tuesday, 236 are male and 161 are female.

Similarly, 263 males contracted the disease on Monday, compared to 161 female.

Meanwhile, while the government has in the past been reluctant to reveal the identities of the coronavirus cases in the country, Dr Aman appeared to change tact on Tuesday and encouraged personalities to come out and declare their status.

“I think it’s a positive thing when celebrities come out and pronounce their status, that is one way to destigmatise the disease, we need to encourage that.”

Citizen TV journalists Jeff Koinange and Stepehen Letoo are among those who have publicly announced they have tested positive.

Regarding vaccines, Aman said: “There are at least 200 vaccines that are being tested out there, some of them have progressed to higher levels of testing. We hope that we will be among those who will be able to get some doses of those vaccines when they are ready to be used.”