On Tuesday China Southern Airlines resumed direct flights from Guangzhou to Nairobi. The Health ministry allowed 239 passengers to disembark but advised them to self-quarantine for 14 days.
The World Health Organisation opposes quarantining and favours active public health intervention once a case of Covid-19 is detected. By that standard, there is nothing wrong with allowing China Southern Airlines to fly to Nairobi.
Flights land every day in Nairobi with passengers from China who have only briefly stopped over in Addis Ababa, Dubai or Doha. Is there are any difference between a passenger who flys direct and a passenger who transits at another airport?
On the other hand, British Airways and other airlines have halted flights to China because of the risk posed by Covid-19. The United States is not allowing non-citizens to enter the country if they have been in China in the last 14 days.
There is a contradiction here. We allow direct flights to and from China, as well as transit flights on many airlines. Hundreds of travellers from China enter Kenya every day. Yet Kenya Airways to not allowed to fly to China.
KQ is a victim of double standards. Either we should allow KQ to resume direct flights to China, or we should block the entry of any traveller who has been in China in the last 14 days.
Quote of the day: "There is no conversation more boring than the one where everybody agrees."
Michel de Montaigne
The French philosopher was born on February 28, 1533
