Hundreds of Chinese nationals thronged the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport –JKIA – on Friday July 31, in a bid to get back home to China amid the rising cases of Covid-19 in the country.
Kenya Airways through the communications director Dennis Kashero stated that the group of Chinese nationals seen at the Airport was scheduled to fly back to their home following a request put in by their government.
“The group is scheduled to fly to China on a repatriation flight. These flights are approved via a bilateral agreement between nations,” Kashero stated.
Videos of long queues by the Chinese nationals at the Airport’s international departure terminal emerged, with many questioning the possibility of the Chinese flying out a day before the resumption of international flights slated for 1st August 2020 by the Kenya Government.
The rising cases of Covid-19 in the country have been mooted as a possible reason behind the mass exodus of the foreigners.
On Thursday July 30, the Ministry of Health announced that 788 more individuals had tested positive over a 24-hour period, bringing the total tally of confirmed cases in the country to 19,913.
Chinese nationals have been on the receiving end of backlash from Kenyans ever since a video of Kenyans being mistreated in Wuhan Province, China, went viral.
The inhumane way in which Kenyans and other African nationals were being treated sparked a diplomatic row that pushed the Asian country’s relation to the limit.
China has since reiterated its unflinching commitment to help out its partners in Africa to combat the pandemic.
On July 24, the Chinese Embassy to Kenya donated 30,000 testing kits, 35,000 extraction kits, 20,000 sampling tubes and other lab to aid in combating the rising cases of Covid-19.
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