Kenya send 182 drivers with the coronavirus back to Tanzania

182 cargo drivers trying to cross the border from Tanzania into Kenya have not been allowed to enter the country after testing positive for the coronavirus.

Of the cases, 126 were at the main border crossing of Namanga.

Health officials would not disclose the nationalities of those that were sent back.

Over the weekend Kenya’s President, Uhuru Kenyatta, closed the borders with Somalia and Tanzania after a reported rise in the number of cross-border infections.

Cargo vehicles were exempt from the closure, but drivers must be subjected to a test for Covid-19 before they are allowed to continue.

“We can not allow people from outside Kenya to come in without a Covid-19 free certificate, just like we are not allowing Kenya drivers to leave without a certificate”, Kenya’s Health Minister, Mutahi Kagwe told a press briefing on Tuesday.

“What would have happened had we not taken the measure of testing at the border is that the cases being reported in the country would have gone up”, he added.

The Tanzanian government however has refuted the test results of 19 of the drivers, saying Kenyan health officials falsified them to ruin Tanzania’s tourism industry.

Arusha’s Regional Commissioner Mrisho Gambo released a statement saying, “Arusha region is convinced that this is a deliberate strategy designed by Kenya against the tourism industry in Arusha and Tanzania at large”.

In addition to those at the Tanzania border, 18 others were turned away at the Somali border after testing positive.

[Photo: Reuters]