The first flight from China has arrived in Kenya are a two-week ban imposed because of the coronavirus outrbeak.

The authorities have allowed the 239 passengers off the China Southern Airlines flight after it landed at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in the capital, Nairobi.

They were screened on board to check for any signs that they were carrying the deadly virus.

The health ministry said the passengers had been advised to self-isolate for 14 days as a precaution – the first time such a large number of passengers have been told to do so.

The Guangzhou-Nairobi route, suspended two weeks ago, will now provide one flight per week, down from the usual four.

Health Minister Sicily Kariuki said in a statement that a total of 17 suspected cases had been reported in the East African nation but they had all tested negative for the virus that causes the respiratory disease Covid-19.

She also advised Kenyans against non-essential travel to countries with confirmed cases.

Globally, more than 80,000 people in more than 40 countries have now been infected and more than 2,700 people have died.

Many Kenyans on social media have expressed disbelief at the government’s decision to let in the passengers from China.

On Wednesday, Algeria became the second country in Africa to confirm a coronavirus case after Egypt. The country’s health ministry said the patient arrived from Italy on 17 February.

The World Health Organization (WHO) Africa regional director Matshidiso Moeti has warned that Africa’s “window of opportunity to prepare for the Covid19 disease is closing”

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