Kagwe remains mum on UK flight ban despite new virus

Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe.

By  Nasibo Kabale  &  AFP

What you need to know:

• Russia announced that it would join more than a dozen countries in suspending flights to the UK.
• As estimated 1,644 people have succumbed to the virus since it was first reported in Nairobi in mid-March while 76,060 have recovered.

Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe remained mum on the fate of flights to and from the United Kingdom even as countries around the world banned travel to Britain. This is after the UK government said a new coronavirus strain is out of control.  

Mr Kagwe did not respond to phone calls and text messages by the Nation on a day more than a dozen countries announced bans on British travellers.

Other senior Ministry of Health officials, who would ordinarily advise the government on the need to impose local and international travel restrictions, did not respond to queries on the matter.

Russia announced that it would join more than a dozen countries in suspending flights to the UK.

France said it would halt travel to and from Britain for 48 hours from Sunday midnight, including “journeys related to goods transport by road, air, sea or rail”.

Kenya’s total Covid-19 cases increased to 94,614 yesterday when 114 more people test positive from a sample of 2,507, the ministry said.

As estimated 1,644 people have succumbed to the virus since it was first reported in Nairobi in mid-March while 76,060 have recovered.

Early in the year, Kenya was criticised for failing to shut out international flights quickly enough, a situation that allowed the virus to enter the country and spread fast.

Britain is one of Kenya’s biggest trade partners and a major source of tourists.

A ban on flights from the UK would deal a blow to the struggling hospitality industry.

The Covid-19 infection rate in Kenya has halved to about seven per cent in less than a month, but there are fears of a new surge as hundreds of thousands of people travel for Christmas and New Yer festivities.

The ban by France on all but unaccompanied freight comes as companies scramble to shift merchandise across the English Channel with days to go until Britain finally quits European Union trade structures.

French Prime Minister Jean Castex’s office said the 48-hour period would offer time to coordinate a joint EU response that would ultimately allow travel from the UK to resume “with compulsory testing on departure”.

The Russian government suspend flights with the UK “due to the worsening epidemiological situation”.

It said the ban would last a week, starting from Monday midnight.

Germany will halt air links with the UK, with the ban initially slated to last until December 31, Health Minister Jens Spahn told ARD public television. Cargo flights will be exempt.

A government source told AFP that Berlin is already working on measures to extend the suspension into January, when Britain severs trade links with the EU.

Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza said that he signed a government decree “which blocks flights from Great Britain and prohibits entry into Italy of individuals who have stayed there during the last 14 days.

Anyone in Italy who recently travelled from Britain must be tested for coronavirus, the statement added.

The new virus strain has been found in one person in Italy. The individual flew in from Britain recently, the health ministry said.

Ireland said flights from Britain would be banned for at least 48 hours from Sunday midnight.

In Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his country would ban flights from Britain for 72 hours.

He tweeted that those who had arrived from Britain on Sunday would be subjected to secondary screenings and “advanced measures”.

Passenger flights from Britain to the Netherlands have been banned until January 1, the Dutch government said.

One case of the new virus variant has been found in the country, the health ministry added.