Kenyans in India asked to register with the embassy to ease communication amid rise of Covid-19
Kenya Ambassador to India, Ambassador Willy Bett, has asked all Kenyans to register their names with the embassy to ease communication owing to the rapid rise of Covid-19 infections in the country.
According to Bett, it is important for the High Commission to update its register of all Kenyan citizens living in India for accountability and decision making purposes.
In an announcement, he has asked all Kenyans to give their names, passport numbers, contacts and purpose of visit to India.
“Owing to the deteriorating Covid-19 situation… It is important for the High Commission to update its register of all Kenyan citizens living in India for accountability and decision making purposes. Kenyans in this region are further advised to form WhatsApp groups and intimate such groups to the mission to ease communication in case such need arises,” states the notice.
Separately, the country will decide today on whether to join other countries in imposing new Covid-19 travel restrictions to and from India as coronavirus infections hit a record peak in India.
Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe said yesterday that a crisis meeting of the National Emergency Response Committee (NERC) has been summoned to discuss and issue an update on India.
A number of countries, including the US, Britain, New Zealand, France, Singapore and Canada have either banned travel to and from India or asked their nationals coming from the Asian country to isolate in government-approved hotels.
India’s new coronavirus infections has hit a record peak for a fifth day today, as countries including Britain, Germany and the United States pledged to send urgent medical aid to help battle the crisis overwhelming its hospitals.
Bengaluru, the southern state of Karnataka, has ordered a lockdown from tomorrow evening for 14 days.
Karnataka is the latest region to enter a lockdown after similar curbs in many parts of India, which is battling a massive second wave of infections that has pressured its health system.
Bengaluru, a city of 12 million, reported more than 20,000 new infections on Sunday, its highest single-day tally so far and second only to the capital, Delhi.
According to spokesman for the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in the capital, New Delhi, currently the hospital is in beg-and-borrow mode and it is an extreme crisis situation.
Yesterday, President Joe Biden said the United States would send raw materials for vaccines, medical equipment and protective gear to India.
The United Kingdom and Germany, have also offered to support as India’s under-funded healthcare system struggles to cope with the increasing demand for medical oxygen and hospital beds.
The UK is set to send 600 pieces of medical equipment including ventilators to India to help the country in the fight against the latest wave of infections.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said the first of nine plane-loads of kit would arrive in New Delhi tomorrow.
