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Kenya suspends flights from India over Covid fearsKenya is still experiencing a third wave of coronavirus infections
AFP
Last Updated IST
The ban follows similar moves by several countries including Canada and the UAE. Credit: Pixabay Photo
The ban follows similar moves by several countries including Canada and the UAE. Credit: Pixabay Photo

Kenya announced Wednesday a temporary ban of passenger flights from India due to a massive surge in coronavirus infections in the South Asian nation.

Health Minister Mutahi Kagwe said Kenya had "observed the dire events in India... and resolved to suspend all passenger flights in and out of the country for a period of 14 days".

The ban follows similar moves by several countries including Canada, the United Arab Emirates and Britain and takes effect from Saturday evening but does not apply to cargo flights.

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Passengers arriving in the next 72 hours will be subjected to a mandatory quarantine period, the ministry said.

India recorded 360,000 new infections -- a global record -- and more than 3,000 deaths on Wednesday. The death toll has surged past 200,000 as infection rates soar in the vast country of 1.3 billion.

Kenya is still experiencing a third wave of coronavirus infections, though cases and infection rates have tapered off in recent weeks.

April has been the deadliest month for the East African nation since the pandemic began, with 535 fatalities from the disease recorded since the start of this month.

Kenya has recorded around 158,300 cases and more than 2,600 deaths since the beginning of the outbreak.

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(Published 28 April 2021, 23:35 IST)