Hundreds of Chinese nationals thronged at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) on Friday July 31, in a bid to head back home.
Speaking to Kenyans.co.ke, Kenya Airways Communications Director Dennis Kashero explained that the group of Chinese nationals were scheduled to fly out of the country following a request by their national government.
"The group is scheduled to fly to China on a repartriation flight. These flights are approved via a bilateral agreement between nations," he stated.
Footage of the long queues outside the international departure terminal at JKIA emerged, with several questioning how they'd fly out, with international flights scheduled to resume a day later on August 1.
The rising cases of Covid-19 in the country have been mooted as a possible reason behind the mass exodus of the foreigners.
On Thursday July 30, the Ministry of Health announced that 788 more individuals had tested positive over a 24-hour period, bringing the total tally of confirmed cases in the country to 19,913.
At the same time, 100 patients were discharged from hospital after recovering from the coronavirus bringing the total recoveries to 8,121.
The pandemic has claimed 235 lives to date.
Chinese nationals have been on the receiving end of backlash from Kenyans ever since a video of Kenyans being mistreated in Wuhan Province, China, went viral.
The inhumane way in which Kenyans and other African nationals were being treated sparked a diplomatic row that pushed the Asian country's relation to the limit.
China has since reiterated its unflinching commitment to help out its partners in Africa to combat the pandemic.
On July 24, the Chinese Embassy to Kenya donated 30,000 testing kits, 35,000 extraction kits, 20,000 sampling tubes and other lab to aid in combating the rising cases of Covid-19.
Watch the footage of Chinese Nationals at JKIA below:
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