This archive report was first published on 31 July 2020.
On July 31, 2020, Kenya marked a significant milestone in its fight against COVID-19 as it reopened its airspace for international flights after a four-month suspension.
As the country welcomed back international travel, hundreds of Chinese nationals were spotted at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) waiting to depart Kenya. According to those who spoke to the Nation, they were leaving out of precaution due to the recent spike in COVID-19 cases in the country.
Many of those leaving were women and children, with some men choosing to stay behind due to work obligations. The decision to leave was reportedly made after they had earlier applied to depart the country, but the local embassy opposed the move.
Kenya's COVID-19 cases had jumped to 19,913 on July 30, 2020, after 788 new cases were reported from a sample of 5,521. However, citizens of China, among other countries, were exempted from mandatory quarantine upon landing in Kenya as part of new rules issued by Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia.
International flights resumed on July 31, 2020, after four months of being suspended. Kenya Airways, which had lost over Sh10 billion in the six months to June due to travel restrictions, unveiled a flight schedule to 30 destinations. Passengers were required to have a negative COVID-19 certificate taken at least 96 hours before and would not exhibit coronavirus symptoms.
