Coronavirus: Kenya gives Sh1.3m to students in Wuhan for upkeep

The government will give Sh1.3m to Kenyan students in Wuhan for upkeep, Spokesman Cyrus Oguna has said

Addressing the media on Thursday, Oguna said the Finance Ministry has released the money to support the students.

Another $5,000( Sh506,800) has been provided by the Chinese government through the Kenyan embassy.

Oguna maintained that the government will not be evacuating students in China.

This follows a call by parents for the government to have the students brought back to the Kenya.

The parents had also complained that the students do not have basic necessities.

But Oguna, said movement of the students could trigger infection.

"So far none of the 91 students and nine artistes have been infected and they risk infection if we bring them to back," he said.

At least 91 Kenyan students are stranded in Wuhan

Dick Obonyo is one of the Kenyans whose family is trapped in Wuhan, the coronavirus epicenter in China.

He said on Wednesday that from the constant conversations he has had with his wife since December, the situation in Wuhan is 'horrible'.

All the wife can access in the supermarket is water and rice. She stays several kilometres from the university.

Last week, Uganda said it will send to each of its students in Wuhan some Sh58,000 ($580) for upkeep after they complained they were 'dying of hunger'. 

The country's Health Minister Ruth Aceng said in a statement that the Foreign Affairs ministry would send $61,000 (Sh6.1 million) to students stranded in Wuhan but would not evacuate them.