182 truck drivers who had tested positive for COVID-19 in Kenya were re-tested and found to be negative in Tanzania.
The post comes after 126 positive cases were reported at the main border crossing of Namanga, which the government of Kenya had declared to be a high-risk area., On May 19, Kenya’s Ministry of Health said that 182 of the 214 coronavirus cases registered at the Kenya-Tanzania border were detected among foreign truckers, mainly from Tanzania, none of whom were allowed into the country., However, a letter from Arusha Regional Commissioner Mrisho Gambo claimed that Tanzanian medics re-tested samples from 19 truck drivers who had been declared positive for COVID-19 by Kenya and found them to be negative. There was no mention of the status of the rest of the samples., President Uhuru Kenyatta announced the closure of Kenya’s borders with Tanzania and Somalia to all traffic except for cargo on May 16 after the country reported an increase in COVID-19 cases reported in Wajir, Namanga, Isebania, Lungalunga and Loitoktok., Tanzania’s regional commissioners reciprocated by closing the Holili, Tanga and Namanga borders to Kenyan cargo and lorries., However, on May 20, Tanzanian President John Pombe Magufuli said President Kenyatta had reached out to him and that the two countries are working on modalities to address the challenges traders and truck drivers are facing at the borders. He added that normalcy would be restored soon., On May 17, President Magufuli had stated that he would not close Tanzania’s borders as it would have an adverse effect on the country’s economy., PesaCheck has looked into the claim that 182 truck drivers who tested positive for COVID-19 in Kenya turned out to be negative after retesting in Tanzania and finds it to be FALSE., This post is part of an ongoing series of PesaCheck fact-checks examining content marked as potential misinformation on Facebook and other social media platforms., By partnering with Facebook and similar social media platforms, third-party fact-checking organisations like PesaCheck are helping to sort fact from fiction. We do this by giving the public deeper insight and context to posts they see in their social media feeds., Have you spotted what you think is fake news or false information on Facebook? Here’s how you can report. And, here’s more information on PesaCheck’s methodology for fact-checking questionable content., This fact-check was written by Fact-Checker Linda Ngari and edited by PesaCheck Deputy Editor Enock Nyariki., The article was approved for publication by PesaCheck Managing Editor Eric Mugendi., PesaCheck is East Africa’s first public finance fact-checking initiative. It was co-founded by Catherine Gicheru and Justin Arenstein, and is being incubated by the continent’s largest civic technology and data journalism accelerator: Code for Africa. It seeks to help the public separate fact from fiction in public pronouncements about the numbers that shape our world, with a special emphasis on pronouncements about public finances that shape government’s delivery of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) public services, such as healthcare, rural development and access to water/sanitation. PesaCheck also tests the accuracy of media reportage. To find out more about the project, visit pesacheck.org., PesaCheck is an initiative of Code for Africa, through its innovateAFRICA fund, with support from Deutsche Welle Akademie, in partnership with a coalition of local media and other civic watchdog organisations in 14 African countries., Written by, Written by
FALSE: 19 truck drivers, not 182, tested negative for COVID-19 in Tanzania after testing positive in Kenya