Kenya has warned its citizens against all but essential travel to China’s Wuhan city, until the outbreak of the coronavirus there has been contained.
The foreign affairs ministry said it is in touch with Kenyans who are stuck in Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak, that is now on lock-down.
“The embassy is aware that there are 85 Kenyans in Wuhan who are registered with the embassy and is closely monitoring the situation,” the ministry said in a statement on Monday.
Kenyans stuck in Wuhan have come up with a Twitter hashtag dubbed #KenyansInWuhan.
They want the the government to evacuate them.
“Just disappointment by our country. Second week now in this ghost city and nothing seems done,” tweeted Cornelius Mulili.
” The situation here ain’t good. All our government has done is to give us a press release. I do not want to describe what we are going through both physically and mentally,” tweeted Rono Kipkorir.
Kenya’s travel warning comes a few days after airport officials in Ivory Coast identified a patient who had similar symptoms to those of the coronavirus. It is not yet confirmed if the patient had contracted the deadly virus.
Kenya has one of the busiest airports in Africa and has stepped up surveillance. It is screening all passengers arriving from China.
bbc