Truck Drivers to Get Certificates Proving They Are Covid-19 Free

All truck drivers will now be issued with certificates to prove that they are free from Covid-19 before they travel to neighboring countries.

The new directive, according to the ministry of transport, will help reduce the rate of Covid-19 spread that has been rampant among truck drivers.

Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia said the truck drivers will have to be tested 48 hours before traveling in the move to tame Covid-19 spread in the transport sector.

“As we said before public transportation is a very key area in terms of both transmission and also facilitation economic development,” CS Macharia said.

“You have heard before about the risk of having truck drivers especially the ones carrying cargo into the country transmitting the virus, say from Mombasa going to the west in Malaba and going to other countries in the region.”

The truck drivers will have to be tested 48 hours before they leave Nairobi or Mombasa and they will have to show the certificates to officers manning the borders. The same will apply to drivers from Rwanda.

The truck drivers will have to show the Covid-19 certificates to all the facilities they will be visiting including the Mombasa port.

“All drivers going into Mombasa port, Nairobi and Naivasha ICD to carry transit goods before they are let into those facilities they must produce that Covid-19 free certificate,” Mr. Macharia stated.

The Covid-19 certificates will only be valid for 14 days after which, the drivers will be required to renew them by going for another test.

The ministry has also included another measure to reduce the spread of Covid-19 at the port where reducing the number of employees from 6,200 to 4000.

“Only the core functions will remain which include loading cargo from the ships and loading cargo on to the ships for exports.”