Kenya to refer Saudi entry ban to Africa CDC
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Capital FM
Kenya wants to refer Saudi Arabia’s suspension of visas and entry ban to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. Nairobi says the nine Ebola cases are linked to one cluster and requests scientific justification, according to Capital FM.
Kenya will refer the matter to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Africa CDC, over the suspension of travel and visas imposed by Saudi Arabia because of the Ebola outbreak. Kenya’s Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs considers the measures disproportionate and potentially harmful to the country’s economic and diplomatic interests, according to Capital FM.
Nairobi is asking Riyadh to review and lift the restrictions, which include suspending the issuing of visas to Kenyans and banning entry to travellers who have stayed in Kenya during the previous 21 days. The ministry says the nine confirmed infections are linked to a single cluster, that no new cases have been reported since 19 October and that there is no established community transmission.
Kenya is also asking Saudi Arabia to submit the scientific justification for the measures to the World Health Organization, in accordance with Article 43 of the 2005 International Health Regulations. Seven patients are still in hospital and are expected to be discharged on 3 November, while 135 contacts have been identified and monitored; 46 of them could complete their quarantine on that date if they remain negative, according to Kenya’s foreign affairs and health ministries.
The initiative follows the entry ban on travellers coming from Kenya announced on 31 October. It continues Nairobi’s challenge to the Saudi travel restrictions, which the Kenyan government considers to lack an epidemiological basis.
