Trade has been disrupted as border officials across the region ramp up testing after scores of drivers test positive for Covid-19
Border testing has revealed a high number of cases among drivers moving essential goods across the regionA Kenyan health worker addresses truck drivers at a screening post at the Namanga one-stop border crossing point between Kenya and Tanzania, Namanga, Kenya, May 12, 2020.
However, border testing has revealed a high number of cases among the drivers and alarm is growing over their potential to be superspreaders. Rwanda has for three weeks said its case numbers of 285 “reflect a rise in cases of cross-border truck drivers and their assistants”, without detailing how many have been infected.Osborne Ndalo, a clinician in Mombasa with the North Star Alliance, which runs health clinics at truck stops, said one Kenyan driver who tested positive at the Ugandan border was found to have infected a lover at one stop in Kenya, as well as up to three others he interacted with along the road.
Kenya has now ordered drivers passing in either direction across the border to obtain a certificate proving they have tested negative for the virus, and undergo a nasal swab test every two weeks.Museveni said stopping trucks from entering the country would be “suicidal” for Uganda, which similar to many of its neighbours has no access to the sea or rail transport for imports and exports.
The country is mulling implementing a relay system at the border where a driver would hand over to a Ugandan driver at the border. “It's like the East African countries are not trusting each other in the way each handles Covid-19,” said Tanzania Truck Owners Association board member Rahim Dossa.
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