The minister told the Senate's Corvid-19 committee that two cases were detected in a prison in the capital, Nairobi.

The health ministry has started conducting mass testing in prisons across the country, the local Citizen TV reports.

Kenya has so far confirmed 672 coronavirus cases in total and 32 deaths.

The government has restricted movement in and out the Nairobi and the second biggest city of Mombasa, as well as two other counties in the coastal region.

It has also imposed a total lockdown in two areas identified as virus hot spots - one in Nairobi and the other in Mombasa - for 15 days.