Coronavirus: Kenya accepts first direct flight from China in two weeks

Kenyan airport authorities have cleared 239 passengers who arrived at the capital’s main international airport on Wednesday.

According to local media, all the passengers were screened on board and allowed to enter the country moments after the aircraft landed at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi.

China Southern Airlines had initially suspended travel reservations on the carrier till the end of June 2020. The ban was to be reviewed on March 28, 2020.

On Monday, the carrier resumed over 2,100 domestic flights amid the epidemic, according to the company.

The flights were mainly from southwest, central and southern China to first-tier cities of Guangzhou, Shenzhen and east China.

In January, Kenya Airways suspended all its flights to Guangzhou, China after patients started dying from coronavirus.

Kenya ministry of health said Wednesday passengers were advised to self-isolate for 14 days as a precaution against the possible spread of coronavirus.

Health Minister Sicily Kariuki said in a statement that 17 suspected cases had been reported in the country but they all tested negative for the virus.

She also advised Kenyans against non-essential travel to countries with confirmed coronavirus cases.

On Wednesday, Algeria became the second country in Africa to confirm a coronavirus case after Egypt. Algerian health ministry said the patient arrived from Italy on 17 February.