This archive report was first published on 19 May 2020.
On May 19, 2020, Kenya's Ministry of Health reported that 182 out of 214 coronavirus cases at the Kenya-Tanzania border were detected among foreign truckers, primarily from Tanzania. None of these individuals were allowed into the country.
Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe explained that this is why President Uhuru Kenyatta ordered the mandatory screening of truckers at border posts before they are cleared into the country.
Kenya also closed its borders with Somalia in response to increased coronavirus cases at Wajir, which borders Somalia.
"If we would not have taken the action of testing at the border these 182 people would now be moving around the country and you can therefore imagine what this would have caused," said Kagwe.
However, the move by Kenya to close the Kenya-Tanzania border to passenger traffic has not been well-received by Tanzanian authorities, who have retaliated by barring Kenyan truckers from entering Tanzania.
The Ministry of Health has set up two mobile laboratories and another lab in Namanga to expedite COVID-19 screening. The Namanga border point registered 126 cases, while Lunga Lunga had 24, Loitoktok had 5, and Isebania had 4.
East African Community Affairs Cabinet Secretary Adan Mohammed stated that cargo trade between Kenya and Tanzania will continue uninterrupted, but each truck driver will be subjected to a coronavirus test.
As of May 19, 2020, Kenya had 963 confirmed cases, with 358 recoveries and 50 deaths reported. The number of active cases being managed in treatment and isolation centres stood at 555.
None of the coronavirus patients were on ventilator or using oxygen support. To date, Kenya has tested 46,784 samples.
