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Kenya has begun digital verification of Covid-19 certificates, the Health CS has said.
Starting Monday, January 11, 2021, no traveller will depart from Kenya without verification of their certificates using the Trusted Travel process.
No labs are permitted to issue Covid-19 certificates without Trusted Travel codes from today, January 9, 2021.
In a statement on Friday, CS Mutahi Kagwe said the Covid-19 pandemic has adversely affected global travel, impacting negatively on trade, tourism and other economic activities.
To mitigate against these effects and to allow for economic activities dependent on international travel, many governments are requiring travellers to present negative Covid-19 certificates t various ports of entry.
CS Kagwe added that to ensure integrity of presented certificates, the Health ministry has collaborated with the African Union and Africa CDC to implement an online system to authenticate and verify travellers' Covid-19 certificates in line with the guidelines of the Trusted Travel Initiative.
"I, therefore, wish to notify travellers to first visit an authorised laboratory to take an RT PCR Covid-19 test and be issued with Trusted Travel (TT) codes that can be verified by airlines and Port Health authorities."
Travellers will receive a text message from PanaBIOS and in addition an email from the testing laboratory with a link to guide the traveller to generate a travel code at trustedtravel.panabios.org.
If a test result meets the exit and entry requirements of Kenya and the travellers' destination, a travel code (TC) is then issued to the traveller online.
In Kenya, all RT PC Covid-19 testing labs have been onboarded to the TT system.
CS Kagwe, in the statement, added that in-bound travellers from countries yet to onboard to the Trusted Travel Initiative will use a tool made available through the UNDP-supported Global Haven partnership for Covid-19 test results and vaccine certificates verification.
"All travellers departing from Kenya will be expected to have the TT code on them test result certificates."
The novel digital services are delivered at no cost to citizens or related government agencies as a result of collaboration with AU bodies, UN institutions, technology companies, telecom operators and standards organisations.
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