Kenya has lifted a ban on passenger flights to and from the United Kingdom effective immediately.
The government also revised the COVID-19 restrictions for passengers arriving in the country from the UK.
In a statement on Saturday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said travelers from Britain, irrespective of their nationality, residency, or route of travel, will be required to have a valid COVID-19 negative PCR test certificate conducted within 96 hours before travel.
They will also be required to self-isolate for seven days upon arrival and take a COVID-19 test four days after arrival.
Kenya imposed travel restrictions on the UK in April in retaliation to the decision by the UK to add Kenya to its COVID-19 ‘red list’ alongside Bangladesh, the Philippines, and Pakistan.
The British High Commission in Nairobi said travelers who have been in or transited through Kenya in the past 10 days would not be granted entry into the UK.
Only British and Irish nationals, as well as third-country nationals with residence rights, would be allowed to enter the UK from Kenya.
“British, Irish, and third-country nationals with residence rights arriving from these countries will be required to quarantine in a government-approved facility for 10 days,” the commission said in a statement dated April 2nd.
In an update on its website, the UK government said some visitors from Kenya tested positive for the South African COVID-19 variant.
“Of the average of 550 people that travel from Kenya to the UK each week, a significant number are testing positive on Day 2. Nearly a third of those positive have been carrying the B.1.351 variant, which originated in South Africa.”
