Nairobi — Seven of the new coronavirus cases that were reported in Kenya on Thursday are on mourners who had traveled from Kibera slum in Nairobi, the Health Ministry said.

Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe said the seven had obtained a permit illegally to attend a burial in Siaya, only to be found to be positive.

"The Siaya story is a sad one because the departure point of that case is actually in Kibera, somebody in Kibera without the authority to authorize anybody to travel signed a document that allowed and was respected by police all the way from Kibera taking mourners for a funeral in Siaya," he said at a news conference on Thursday when he announced 80 new cases, raising the total in the country to 1,109.

He regretted that Kenyans were taking lightly the coronavirus situation in the country that continues to register double-digit figures.

Kenya is implementing a dusk to dawn curfew, and a cessation of movement in and out of Eastleigh estate in Nairobi and Old Town area of Mombasa.