Wednesday May 5, 2021
The health ministry made the announcement on Wednesday, May 5, and said the deadly variant was found among five people in Kisumu.
Ministry of Health Acting Director-General Patrick Amoth said the cases were reported in five people working at a fertiliser plant near Kibos in Kisumu.
Amoth said the infections were identified on arrival into the country on Thursday, April 29, before the ban on flights from India was imposed.
The health ministry official also said contact tracing had kicked off. A week ago, Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe announced a 14-day ban of all passenger flights from India to Kenya.
Kagwe said the decision followed a series of consultations and deliberations among the National Emergency Response Committee on COVID-19 members.
However, the suspension took effect on midnight Saturday, May 1, to allow Kenyan patients stuck in India to return home.
Those who arrived within the 72 hour period (Wednesday and Saturday) were subjected to rapid antigen testing and forced into a 14-day quarantine to monitor their health status.
Variant in Uganda As TUKO.co.ke earlier reported, on Thursday, April 29, Uganda health authorities also confirmed the Indian coronavirus strain.
The executive director of Uganda Virus Research Institute Pontiano Kaleebu, said the case was detected in Kampala although he did not give more details about the patient.