This archive report was first published on 30 June 2020.
As the European Union (EU) prepares to reopen its external borders on July 1, Kenya is among countries that will be locked out due to COVID-19 concerns.
According to a CNN report, the EU has shortlisted 15 countries whose citizens will be allowed to enter the bloc, with the condition that these countries have equal or lower COVID-19 infection rates than the EU.
China, where the virus originated, is surprisingly among the 15 countries on the list, alongside Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia, and Uruguay.
Kenya, however, does not feature on the list, despite President Uhuru Kenyatta's plans to resume local flights and international flights.
EU officials hope that member states will reopen their borders in tandem, but border control ultimately lies with each member state.
EU borders were closed in March after the bloc saw its COVID-19 infection rates grow exponentially.
As of Tuesday, Kenya had reported a total of 6,366 cases, with 176 new cases reported from 2,419 samples tested in the last 24 hours.
Meanwhile, the US has the highest number of confirmed infections and deaths due to COVID-19, with over 2.64 million total cases and over 128,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center.
EU officials expect to review the decision every two weeks, and member states are expected to approve the list and guidelines by qualified majority on Tuesday.
