The key players in the regional logistics sector have asked the governments to flex Covid-19 testing protocols to ease border crossing in the wake of a decline in positivity rate and vaccination rollout across the region.
In an earlier phone interview, Mr. Fred Seka, the president of the Federation of East African Freight Forwarders Associations (EAFFA), urged EAC partner states to slacken the existing Covid-9 protocols in tandem with the prevailing situations at the border points.
“We need to urgently revise the Covid-19 protocols, especially at the borders before they mutate into a non-tariff barrier of trade,” Seka said.
The Kenya Transporters Association (KTA) Chairman Mr. Newton Wang’oo, on the other hand, issued a statement asking the government to divert its resources from testing for Covid 19 and focus on the vaccination of drivers. Facilities for free testing should be placed at all border points.
KTA has also asked regional governments to allow fully vaccinated drivers not to be required to present negative PCR test results every 14 days.
“Many countries in the world have adopted this system and we view it as the best way forward under the prevailing circumstances,” Wang’oo said.
The positivity rate in Kenya according to a release issued on behalf of the Kenya government by APO Group recorded 0.1 percent in a sample size of 3,956.
Cumulative tests by yesterday stood at 3,403,120, total confirmed cases at 323,075 with total recoveries reaching 303,352.
Over 7.6 million adults in Kenya were fully vaccinated against the Covid 19 as of March 1, 2022. In Nairobi, around 1.4 million individuals have completed the immunization, the highest number among Kenyan counties. Overall, roughly 16.7 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, including first and second doses, were already distributed in Kenya.
All the other countries in the region have also reported a significant reduction in the positivity hence the need to revise the border crossing protocols and facilitate trade among the partner states.
