Covid-19: Eight more Tanzanian truckers sent home after testing positive
What you need to know:
- It is not clear whether the drivers were immediately sent to a health facility in Tanzania or were let to walk home for self isolation.
Dar es Salaam. Tanzanian truck drivers sent home at border posts with Kenya have today reached 33 after eight others tested positive for the coronavirus at Namanga border post, Kenya’s Health Ministry has confirmed.
It is not clear whether the drivers were immediately sent to a health facility in Tanzania or were let to walk home for self isolation.
Yesterday, 23 drivers were sent home at Namanga whereas two were denied entry at the Isibania border post on Tuesday.
According to Kenya’s Health ministry official Mercy Mwangangi, the border areas have become among the key areas of focus and in particular Namanga town that borders Kenya and Tanzania.
“Our porous borders are now the ones that have become the latest high risk areas in the transmission of the disease. Truck drivers are becoming the other weak link in the fight against the virus,” she said.
She said the communities must remain vigilant and report any suspicious individuals who may be using panya routes to get into Kenya.
Namanga was put on the list of high-risk zones on May 14, after 25 truck drivers from the border town tested positive for coronavirus.
Kenya’s Health CAS Rashid Aman said on Wednesday that a mobile testing lab is set to be deployed to the Namanga border.
“The mobile testing lab will be used to run Covid-19 tests for truck drivers and is key for surveillance and monitoring of the virus within member states of the EAC,” he said.
