Passengers and crew flying international and arriving late in the night will be exempted from the current 9 pm to 4 am curfew that has been put in place as part of the measures to curb the spread of the killer coronavirus (COVID-19).
“International passengers will be exempted from restrictions on movement past curfew hours when the international flights resume,” the Transport ministry said.
The exemption would enable airlines to operate smoothly at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) as soon as International flights resume in August.
President Uhuru Kenyatta on July 6th announced a slow reopening of the economy from a Covid-19 lockdown, lifting restrictions on travel in and out of the capital Nairobi and Mombasa and allowing air travel out of the country to resume August 1st.
Airlines have, however, had to restrict their domestic flight schedules in order to abide by the curfew law which has in turn affected the frequency of services massively.
Last week, Transport Cabinet secretary James Macharia also exempted passengers and tourists arriving in the country from mandatory quarantine if they do not show any symptoms of Covid-19.
“All passengers shall be exempted from quarantine on arrival at their destinations if their body temperatures are not above 37.5 degrees Celsius and they do not have a persistent cough, difficulty in breathing and other flu-like symptoms,” Mr Macharia said last week.
Since the first case of COVID-19 was reported in Kenya on March 13, 2020, the country just like other countries in the world, has been experiencing massive destruction of the economy in terms of GDP decline and job losses. While the country had started experiencing the economic impacts prior to COVID-19, the emergence of virus has accelerated Kenya’s economic troubles.
The kenyan Economy growth slowed to 2.5 pc growth this year from 5.4pc previously. According to a report by the University of Nairobi, going by the existing economic activities in Kenyan due to virus, the GDP growth of Kenya is likely to range between 1.3pc and 2.2pc for the year ending of 2020.
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