Kenyan counties with the highest number of COVID-19 cases 2022

Nairobi has been the Kenyan county most affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. As of March 31, 2022, the capital registered most of the confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country, around 129 thousand. The amount corresponded to nearly 40 percent of the total cases in Kenya. In Kiambu, within the Nairobi Metropolitan Region, 19,778 infected people were registered, whereas Mombasa, Kenya's oldest and second largest city, had 17,794 cases. As of March 2021, Kenya started the vaccination campaign against the coronavirus with doses received through the COVAX initiative.

Kenya's economy rebounds amid vaccination campaign

The coronavirus outbreak had a significant negative impact on Kenya's economy. In the second quarter of 2020, the quarterly country’s GDP decreased by 5.5 percent, the first contraction in recent years. Around one year later, in the third quarter of 2021, Kenya already registered an improved economic performance, with the quarterly GDP growth rate measured at 9.9 percent. The educational sector pushed the result, with an expansion of 65 percent. Mining and quarrying, and accommodation and food services followed, each with a 25 percent growth rate.

Signs of recovery in the tourism sector

Extensively known for its rich nature and wildlife, Kenya felt dramatically the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in the tourism industry. The sector's contribution to the country’s GDP roughly halved in 2020, compared to 2019. By the end of 2021, however, signals of recovery were already spotted. The monthly number of arrivals in both Jomo Kenyatta and Moi international airports in December that year corresponded to roughly 70 percent of that registered in December 2019. Additionally, as of March 2022, the bed occupancy rate in Kenyan hotels amounted to 57 percent, against 23 percent in March 2021.