This archive report was first published on 21 June 2020.
On Saturday, June 20, 2020, the Kenyan High Commission in Uganda handed over 28 returnees to Busia County Commissioner at the Busia border. The returnees had been issued with Covid-19 free certificates.
According to Principal Counselor Ronoh Kennei, the majority of the returnees were medical students who had been studying in Uganda since March 2020. They were from various levels of study and came from Kampala International University and Western Uganda.
Speaking at the handover ceremony, Counselor Kennei expressed confidence that the pandemic would soon come to an end and urged the returnees to adhere to the Ministry of Health guidelines for their own safety.
He also informed the County security team that one more person would return on Sunday, June 21, and two others of Asian origin would arrive on Monday. The Counselor explained that the remaining three returnees would reach the country before Monday.
Busia County Commissioner Joseph Kanyiri welcomed the returnees and assured them that they would serve the 14-day mandatory quarantine in accordance with the Ministry of Health and WHO guidelines. The returnees would be dispatched to the Kenya Medical Training College in Nairobi for quarantine, with necessary arrangements made for those proceeding to Kisumu and Kisii counties.
Commissioner Kanyiri explained that self-quarantine had been scrapped after some returnees disregarded social distancing, forcing their families and other contacts to be subjected to isolation.
By Salome Alwanda
