Kenya launches new COVID-19 protocols for tourists

By Andrew Wasike

NAIROBI, Kenya (AA) - Visitors to Kenya will have to adhere to new coronavirus rules, Tourism Minister Najib Balala said on Tuesday.

Balala said the measures are part of the “new normal” for health and safety regulations.

“With the majority of people embracing the Covid-19 vaccines worldwide, we deem it important to issue a comprehensive Covid-19 vaccination policy and procedures for both guests and staff at all levels of establishments’ operations. That’s why today we are launching the reviewed protocols,” Balala told a news conference in the capital Nairobi.

Tourism, which is Kenya's second-largest foreign exchange earner after horticulture, has added hospitality workers to the frontline in the fight against the pandemic with mitigation measures, including operationalization of vaccination programs which will include service providers in the hospitality industry.

For instance, tourism, travel and hospitality establishments shall ensure tourists and guests wear appropriate, quality personal protective equipment except when in their room, dining or in private with physical distancing in a hotel garden or at the beach.

Institutions will ensure facilities and businesses provide a continuous supply of masks and gloves where necessary, which shall be available for sale to guests at the discretion of individual enterprises.

Guests and visitors will be registered and records kept and updated daily that will include mobile contacts and physical addresses to ease contact tracing.

Restaurants and eateries serving tourists have been directed to operate in strict adherence to protocols provided by the Ministry of Health, including staff having valid digital QR-code signifying vaccination, guests not being allowed to serve themselves from buffets and the inclusion of electronic menus on sanitized tablets, fixed board, or printed single-use disposable menus.

“There are those that are not following or are trying to circumvent the laid down protocols. We want to tell them their days are numbered and that the long arm of the law will soon catch up with them,” said Balala.

A nationwide curfew in Kenya runs from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m., and the hospitality industry has been directed to stop serving at 9 p.m.

A total of 1,085 people tested positive for the virus in Kenya on Tuesday from a sample size of 7,067 tested in the last 24 hours. The positivity rate stands at 15.4%. Confirmed positive cases are now 205,356.

Twenty-five people reportedly died from the virus that pushed fatalities to 3,995.

More than 1.73 million vaccines have been administered in the country that has a population of 52 million.