COVID-19: Kenya closes border with Somalia, Tanzania

NAIROBI, Kenya

Kenya closed its borders with Somalia and Tanzania on Saturday because of increased cross-border infections of the coronavirus, President Uhuru Kenyatta said Saturday.

Kenyatta said 43 people who recently crossed the border from neighboring Somalia and Tanzania were among diagnosed cases this week

“Therefore, in accordance with the advice by the National Emergency Response Committee on Coronavirus, and the National Security Council, I am directing that there shall be cessation of movement of persons and any passenger ferrying automobiles and vehicles into and out of the territory of the Republic of Kenya through the Kenya-Somalia international border except for cargo vehicles, with effect from midnight today, Saturday 16th, May 2020.”

He issued the same directive for Tanzania and announced an extension by 21 days of a dawn-to-dusk curfew.

Cargo vehicles entering Kenya will be subjected to mandatory COVID-19 testing and drivers will be granted entry only if test results are negative.

Kenya recorded 830 confirmed infections and 50 deaths from COVID-19.

The government said in recent days 78 foreign truck drivers tested positive for the virus at borders and were denied entry.