The first batch of 200 Chinese nationals who petitioned the court to be allowed to leave Kenya jetted out of the country on Tuesday night.
They are part of 400 Chinese nationals who asked the Kenyan government to be allowed to return to China over the fear of contracting coronavirus in the country.
The 200 Chinese nationals were evacuated by a China Southern Airlines plane.
Their lawyer, Isaac Okiya said that they decided to travel in batches because they could not all fit into the plane given the social distancing rules currently being applied by all airlines.
“The remaining 200 will leave in the course of the week. We were expecting all of them to leave at once, but considering the social-distance rule and the new sitting arrangement, they could not leave at once,” Okinyo told Nation.
In light of an active suspension of international travel, the 400 Chinese were forced to seek the court’s approval for evacuation.
The Chinese nationals told the court that Kenya’s health system cannot handle the pandemic when it goes full-blown, therefore, want to leave on June 16.
They argued that they stand a better chance of getting better treatment back in China should they contract the virus.
They offered that China has better and more sophisticated medical equipment to help them pull through.
“They have underlying conditions and others just don’t feel safe here. All the isolation centres are full, testing and contact tracing is a big deal to the Kenyan government. Let them just go back home as they so wish,” argued before Justice Weldon Korir.
One of the female Chinese nationals ready for evacuation said she is no longer comfortable in Kenya.
“The other day, I went to a supermarket and people were literally running away from me. In most hospitals, even if you are just going for a normal check-up, they insist that all Chinese residents be tested for Covid-19,” she said.
COVID-19 cases in Kenya are nearing 4,000 mark with at least 3,700 cases being confirmed so far.
The Ministry of Health has warned that the cases will continue increasing until August.
