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Chinese Embassy confirms more flights to land in Kenya


The Chinese Embassy has confirmed that there will be more flights arriving at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport over the coming weeks amidst concerns of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

This comes despite the Kenyan government’s refusal to evacuate Kenyans stuck in China due to the Coronavirus outbreak, Chinese citizens continue arriving in droves unhindered.

The Embassy released a statement on Wednesday confirming that the China Southern Airlines resumed flights from Guangzhou to Nairobi.

The airline’s flights are now reduced to once a week until March 25, 2020.

According to the Chinese Embassy, they notified the Ministry of Health in advance, and that all passengers on board were screened, cleared and advised to self-quarantine for 14 days.

While the statement is not clear on what the 14-day self-quarantine entails, the Embassy said that they have provided information to the Ministry for monitoring.

The Ministry of Health issued a travel advisory to all Kenyans against visiting countries experiencing mass infections.

“Kenyans are advised against non-essential travel to countries experiencing the outbreak. This is in view of expanding geographical of the outbreak across the world,” the statement read in part.

Kenyans were also urged to maintain hygiene and avoid contact with persons exhibiting suspicious symptoms like fever, cough, difficulty in breathing and sneezing.

With the global number of those diagnosed with the illness is estimated at 80,000, Kenya is exposing her people to adversity of an unknown magnitude.

While reports indicate that Covid-19 numbers have stabilised in China, there is no telling what the virus could do in countries that are vulnerable due to poor healthcare systems.