Negative Covid-19 PCR Certificate Must for Travelling to Kenya

The Kenyan government has made it mandatory for international travellers to carry a negative PCR test report not older than 72 hours prior to arrival.

“That all persons coming into the country must be in possession of a negative COVID-19 PCR Certificate, acquired no more than 96 hours prior to arrival into the Country; with the PCR Certificate also having been validated under the Trusted Travel platform for those travelling by air,” President Uhuru Kenyatta said Friday.

The new measures are a result of a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases in the country.

However, international travel will continue under existing guidelines.

According to Kenya’s Protocol for air Travel Operations during the Covid-19 Public Health Crisis:

“All arriving passengers on international flights whose body temperature is not above 37.5*, do not have a persistent cough, difficulty in breathing or other flu-like symptoms. Have a negative PCR based Covid-19  test carried out within 96 hours before travel and are from countries considered low to medium risk COVID-19 transmission areas shall be exempt from quarantine.”

In January, the Ministry of Health Friday rolled out an online system, Travel Pass Initiative (TPI),  to authenticate and verify COVID-19 certificates. 

The president further revoked all passes until the Interior and Health ministries reviewed the protocols, saying the provision was being abused.

Similarly, Public Transport Operators have been directed to strictly uphold the re-designated 60% carrying capacity. 

Friday, Kenya recorded 2,008 new COVID-19 cases from a sample size of 11,360 tested in the last 24 hours bringing the total confirmed positive cases to 128,178. This translates to a positivity rate of 17.7%.

The Ministry of Health noted that the new cases include 1,954 are Kenyans while 54 are foreigners. 

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