Passengers from Chinese airline advised to self-quarantine, says Health Ministry

A plane belonging to China Southern Airlines on the runway at JKIA, Nairobi. [File, Standard]

The Government has advised passengers who jetted into the country via China Southern Airlines to self-quarantine as a precaution to avoid entry of COVID-19 into the country.

A statement issued by the Ministry of Health on Wednesday indicates that 239 used the airline to jet into the country.

China Southern Airlines resumed its flight to Nairobi after a temporary halt due to the spread of deadly Coronavirus, which broke out in Wuhan City, China.

The Ministry has allayed any fears of entry of the diseases saying that all the passengers were screened onboard, cleared and urged to self-quarantine for 14 days.

It has however issued a travel advisory to Kenyans and warned them 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,” it partly states.

The Ministry has further urged the public to maintain hygiene and avoid contact with persons exhibiting suspicious symptoms such as acute respiratory illnesses. It states that persons with fever, cough, difficulty in breathing, sneezing and with history of having travelled outside the country should be avoided and if possible taken for quick medical checkup.

It states that it has investigated seventeen suspect cases all of which have turned out to be negative. The Ministry says that the latest cases involved two individuals along Raira Road and Valley Arcade Road in Nairobi on Tuesday February 25.

But in both cases, there was no alarm as none of their symptoms met the World Health Organization’s definition of COVID-19.

The COVID-19, initially referred to as Novel Coronavirus 2019 broke out in Wuhan City, China late last year. At the moment, the virus has yielded over 80,000 cases and over 2,700 deaths in mainland China alone.

Other countries that have experienced infections and deaths include South Korea, Iran, Italy, Philippines and much more. Closer to Kenya, Egypt and Algeria are the only African countries that have registered cases of the virus and all involved foreign travelers.