President Kenyatta has been forced to cancel his scheduled trip to Italy due to the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.
Kenyatta was slated to visit Vatican City from March 10th to 14th and was set to hold a meeting with Pope Francis, according to Sunday Nation.
A Kenyan delegation had already been dispatched to Italy on March 2nd ahead of Kenyatta’s visit but they were recalled after the trip was canceled due to the coronavirus situation there.
Italy is the hotspot of Covid-19 in Europe with 21,157 infections and 1,441 reported deaths as of Sunday morning. Last week, the Italian government announced a nationwide lockdown to prevent further spread of the dreaded virus.
At the same time, a high-profile meeting between Kenya, Somalia, and Ethiopia that was scheduled to take place at State House, Mombasa on March 16th has been called off due to the same reason.
The meeting would have brought together Uhuru, Somali president Mohamed Farmaajo and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to discuss the strained diplomatic relationship between Nairobi and Mogadishu.
Its cancelation came after both Kenya and Ethiopia reported their first cases of Covid-19 last week.
