Transport Cabinet Secretary (CS) James Macharia on Wednesday, July 15, announced a new set of guidelines for commuters across the country.
In a statement seen, Public Service Vehicles (PSVs) will now be allowed to increase the number of passengers as the national government continues to ease travel restrictions implemented to counter the spread of the coronavirus.
“If a person shows signs and symptoms suggestive of COVID-19, the crew should immediately call 719 for further advice and or drive into the next offsite pre-identified gazetted health care facility,” the statement reads in part.
The new directives were highlighted as follows:
- 14 seater – allowed sitting capacity of 10 including the driver and crew
- 33 seater – allowed sitting capacity of 18 including the driver and crew
- 51 seater – allowed sitting capacity of 30 including the driver and crew
- In case of a motorcycle/bodaboda, only one pillion passenger shall be carried
- For a five (5) seater car – a maximum of 3 passengers (provided in the law), however, the law is silent on the number of passengers for seven-seater cars.
CS Macharia further announced that TukTuks would still only be allowed to carry one passenger at any time, but went on to reveal that he was in consultation with his Health Ministry Counterpart, CS Mutahi Kagwe to consider reviewing of the directive to allow tuktuks to carry two passengers.
Public transport operators were directed to ensure the implementation of various measures to ensure the health and safety of their crew and passengers including thermal screening, hand washing, and use of face masks by customers, staff, crew, and passengers before entering offices, vehicles, and workplaces.
To ensure contact tracing could be done efficiently, CS Macharia directed that all PSV offices maintain and keep passenger manifest for all long-distance trips for a minimum period of one month before destroying them.
Hawkers, who usually flock bus stations to sell their wares, were henceforth banned from conducting their operations to reduce the risk of contamination while on transit.
The transport CS appealed to the various stakeholders in the service industry to ensure that all vehicles are disinfected after every trip.
He went on to announce that new protocols are set to be reviewed at least once every three months.
On July 15, the national carrier, Kenya Airways (KQ) resumed local flights, starting off with flights to Mombasa and Kisumu that took off in the morning at an event flagged off by CS Macharia.
The Kisumu flight took off from the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) at 10.30 a.m. and landed at 11:20 a.m. with 66 passengers aboard.
Speaking during the ceremony, the Transport CS said that the government would rely on the performance of local flights to see how to go about implementing the resumption of international flights slated for August 1.
Watch Kenya Airways’ first local flight since the pandemic below: