By Spy Uganda Correspondent
Nairobi: Kenya on Wednesday suspended all passenger flights from India for the next two weeks due to the increasing surge of COVID-19 infections in the Asian country.
Kenya’s Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe said the decision to suspend the flights was reached by the national emergency response committee which held a crisis meeting on the COVID-19 situation on Tuesday.
Kagwe said the flight suspension will take effect from Saturday midnight, adding that cargo flights will however remain in service subject to observation of transport protocols.
“All passengers arriving from India within these 72 hours shall be subjected to rapid antigen testing upon arrival at our ports of entry and shall be required to strictly observe a 14-day quarantine period that will be closely monitored by our health officials,” he told a news conference in Nairobi.
Kagwe said the move follows the huge surge in COVID-19 infections and deaths in India and expressed solidarity with the Indian government in dealing with the situation.
India on Thursday reported a massive surge of 379,257 cases and 3,645 deaths, thus marking the biggest single-day spike ever, according to the ministry of health. The cumulative caseload stands at 18,376,524 and the death toll from the virus has reached 204,812. India now has nearly 3.1 million active cases. India has been reporting over 300,000 cases daily for a week now.
Maharashtra reported a record high of 985 Covid-19 deaths with 63,309 new cases, Kerala registered 35,013 fresh cases and Uttar Pradesh 29,824. Delhi recorded 368 Covid-19 deaths and around 26,000 cases with a positivity rate of 31.76 per cent.
Karnataka reported a new all-time record on Wednesday with 39,047 Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours. Its capital city, Bengaluru alone accounted for 22, 596 of the total number of cases.
