This archive report was first published on 17 June 2020.
June 17, 2020 - Nairobi, Kenya. The Kenyan government has denied reports that 200 Chinese nationals left the country due to COVID-19 fears.
The reports, published in a local daily, claimed that the group had obtained a court order to leave the country on June 16, citing a lack of trust in the Kenyan health system.
However, the Chinese Embassy in Nairobi and the Foreign Affairs Ministry have dismissed the claims as 'totally false and based on the Reporter's imagination.'
"The Chinese Embassy firmly reiterates that the reports on Daily Nation about Chinese nationals taking flights back to China are false," the Embassy said in a statement.
"There is no passenger flight to China this week," the statement added.
The Director of Communications at the Ministry, Jane Kariuki, also described the newspaper report as 'fabricated and imagination.'
China Southern Airlines, which was to have flown the group to China, also rebuked the story as 'fake news.'
"There was no flight from Nairobi on Tuesday," said Huang Guanwen, the airline's General Manager.
"Southern Airlines is still waiting for approval from authorities to resume the flights," he added.
The Embassy has urged Chinese nationals in the country to strictly observe the COVID-19 containment measures issued by authorities in the host country.
