Coronavirus controversy in Kenya: government tries to reassure

Text by: RFI Follow

The Kenyan High Court of Justice temporarily suspended flights from China. A decision following a complaint filed by the association of lawyers LSK which asked the authorities to ban planes from China in order to protect the country against the coronavirus.

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With our correspondent in Nairobi, Sébastien Nemeth

Accused of lightness , the government wanted to reassure. For the Minister of Health, Rashid Aman, there is no problem asking passengers to isolate themselves and watch themselves: " It means that you stay at home. You watch yourself. If a person has symptoms, they contact the authorities. Our teams also contact them regularly. That doesn't mean these people are sick, but we don't want to take any chances. So this is an extreme precautionary measure. "

Faced with an outcry, the authorities wanted to spread out the measures taken to contain an arrival of the coronavirus . There is a national emergency plan and rapid response teams. Anyone arriving in Kenya has their temperature checked. 320,000 travelers have been examined in the past month. Human resources have been reinforced with 650 trained health professionals, two laboratories can now establish diagnoses, an isolation unit with 11 beds is ready, another with 120 places will be ready within a month.

" It is a discriminatory measure "

However, some Kenyans are still asking the authorities to ban the Chinese from entering the territory. Minister Rashid Aman refused such a measure: " It is a discriminatory measure. Especially since today the virus is spreading in many other countries. And even if you stop flights from China, people transit elsewhere. So it is not a solution. Tackling a particular population would be dangerous. "

The country nevertheless remains feverish. In the Athi River area, a Chinese passenger wanted to quarantine , as requested by the government. The population got angry and health workers had to be sent there to calm down the spirits.

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• Kenya
• coronavirus

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