This archive report was first published on 5 May 2021.
On May 5, 2021, the Health Ministry in Kenya announced the detection of the deadly Covid-19 variant from India.
According to Health Director-General Patrick Amoth, the variant was detected in five individuals who had arrived in the country before the government banned flights from India last week.
"Yes, this variant has been picked in Kenya, and because of global connectivity, it is just a question of time. You cannot be able to put barriers to prevent a virus from accessing your territory," Dr. Amoth said.
The variant, believed to be 15 times more deadly, has caused widespread devastation in India, with hundreds of thousands of cases reported in 24 hours.
Kenya is not the only country to detect the variant, as it was also found in Uganda last week. The virus was detected in a Ugandan individual who had returned from India after a visit.
"Yes, we have got one individual who has that variant," Pontiano Kaleebu, head of the Uganda Virus Research Institute, said.
Kenya has reported 489 new Covid-19 cases, with a total of 900,459 individuals vaccinated against the disease as of today.
