A hundred and twenty more people have tested positive for the coronavirus in Kenya, raising the country’s total number of confirmed cases since March 13 to 6,190.

The Ministry of Health announced this on Monday, saying it had tested 2,221 samples.

Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) Rashid Aman said all but five of the new patients are Kenyans and that Nairobi, the capital city, was in the lead with 67 of the cases. Mombasa County followed with 17 while Machakos recorded nine.

Dr Aman also announced the recovery of 42 more patients, raising the total number of recoveries to 2,013.

He said the death toll had risen to 144 as one more patient had died.

Dr Aman added that local scientists researching on the disease are looking into local characterisation, interventions implemented and their levels of success.

He said the Ministry of Health and the Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri) are doing the research.