Transport CS James Macharia, on Wednesday, July 8, announced that passengers arriving in Kenya from other countries would not be forced to quarantine if they did not exhibit flu symptoms, with passengers flying into Kenya required to present Covid-19 free certificates.
"All passengers shall be exempt from quarantine on arrival at their destinations if their body temperature is not above 37.5 degrees celsius and they do not have a persistent cough, difficulty in breathing and other flu-like symptoms.
"This is important because we do not expect a tourist to come from wherever they land here and then they are quarantined for 14 days," the CS explained.
Speaking during a press briefing at Transcom House in Nairobi, CS Macharia revealed that the new protocols were aimed at encouraging tourism, one of the hardest-hit industries following the pandemic.
In addition, the CS explained that airline crew and passengers would be allowed to the airports and that all crew would be exempted from quarantine after a flight, if their body temperatures were below 37 degrees, and if there was no suspected Covid-19 case in the flight.
However, the crew is expected to be quarantined in case of a suspected case from the flight.
Passengers flying into the country will be allowed to be dropped and picked at the various airports past curfew hours, provided that they are able to present a boarding pass.
With the resumption of air transport slated for July 15, 2020, as per President Uhuru Kenyatta's directive, CS Macharia revealed that only 5 airlines had so far confirmed that they would be operational.
The five were identified as Kenya Airways, Jambojet, Aim Air, Boskovic Air, and Scenic Safaris.
In case of a suspected case of COVID-19 on a flight, CS Macharia revealed that the passengers within two rows of the passenger with the symptoms would be tested. If their results turned out to be negative, they would be then allowed to leave the airport, however, the reverse would result in the passengers being quarantined in accordance with Ministry of Health guidelines.”
Watch CS Macharia's briefing below:
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