Kenya to quarantine passengers from S.Africa, Botswana, Hong Kong over new COVID variant

By Andrew Wasike

NAIROBI, Kenya (AA) – Kenyan Health Ministry's director-general on Friday said the East African nation would place passengers from places with the new COVID-19 variant in quarantine.

Patrick Amoth said in a statement that ”whilst passenger traffic may not be as significant from neighboring Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini, and Zimbabwe, enhanced surveillance protocols like quarantine and repeat testing will be applied to all passengers from all countries reporting the new variant.”

Kenya’s Health Ministry said that given the nature of the transmission of COVID-19, it is inevitable that the variant may eventually get into the country.

Kenya enjoys cordial relations with South Africa and passenger and air traffic between the two countries is significant, so the potential of the introduction of the new COVID-19 variant is a real threat, Amoth said.

All inbound travelers into Kenya must submit a negative COVID-19 PCR test taken 96 hours before arrival into the country.

The Health Ministry directed all national and county health facilities to prepare to handle a potential rise in the number of new COVID-19 cases. ”Special emphasis should be placed on availability of critical care facilities, piped oxygen, and additional human resource surge capacity,” Amoth said.

Kenya is currently witnessing a decreased number of COVID-19 cases with a total of 254,862 infections reported as of Friday, while a total of 5,333 deaths have been recorded since the onset of the disease.