NAIROBI, May 5 (Xinhua) -- Kenya confirmed on Wednesday that the coronavirus variant first detected in India has now been found in the country, adding that it detected five such cases.
Patrick Amoth, Director General for Health at the Ministry of Health, said the variant was picked in five Indian nationals who arrived in the country on April 29 and are working in Kisumu County in western Kenya.
"This variant has been picked in Kenya and because of connectivity, you cannot be able to put barriers to prevent a virus from accessing your territory. It was just a matter of time," Amoth told a media briefing in Nairobi on Wednesday.
He said the contact tracing is currently ongoing, adding that the results of the genome sequencing are expected in a week.
The development makes Kenya the second country in the East African region to record a case of the deadly COVID-19 variant after a similar case was detected in neighboring Uganda.
He said the area has been reinforced in collaboration with public health officials in Kisumu County to ensure the variant does not spread.
Starting from May 1, Kenya banned all passenger flights from India for two weeks to minimize the risk of the spread of the coronavirus strain from the world's second-most populous nation.
The government also required travelers from India before the ban came into effect to be subjected to rapid antigen testing upon arrival and strictly observe a 14-day quarantine period being closely monitored by health officials. Enditem