(3 minutes read)
- Travelers from Kenya still are not permitted in the United Kingdom in the latest update that took effect yesterday (Monday)
- The ban still continues despite President Uhuru Kenyatta’s visit to Britain and the public resentment shown against the British decision
- The UK last week updated countries on England’s “Red List”. There are renewed concerns about the spread of new Covid-19 variants that have now been reported in Kenya
Travelers from Kenya still are not permitted in the United Kingdom in the latest update that took effect yesterday (Monday). The ban still continues despite President Uhuru Kenyatta’s visit to Britain and the public resentment shown against the British decision.
The UK last week updated countries on England’s “Red List”. There are renewed concerns about the spread of new Covid-19 variants that have now been reported in Kenya. Many thought, particularly the tourism segment, that President Kenyatta’s recent visit to the UK would have some impact on relaxing the travel rules for Kenyans to the UK. There was speculation that Nairobi would join the Amber List like Qatar, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates and India that have been moved into that list recently from the red list.
The Covid-19 cases have been surging for the last two weeks in the UK. The travel ban was first placed in April. Sensing there could be import of the virus from the heavily infected countries and regions, the UK has segmented countries into green, amber and red lists, each carrying different degrees of restrictions. A British citizen travelling from a Green and Amber List is not mandated to undergo quarantine, whereas travelers from countries on the Red List will be denied entry while returning Britons must submit to 10 days of mandatory quarantine in hotels.
In Kenya, only 1.3 percent of the population is vaccinated. The country has received several vaccine donations including from the UK and has also procured some with a target of inoculating 10 million Kenyans by next Christmas. But vaccination is not picking up presumably due to resistance from the population to get vaccinated.
