(Photo by Melechezedeck Ejakait)
Truck drivers can now breathe a sigh of relief after the government and the European Union agreed to introduce a mobile app capable of transmitting Covid-19 test results online.
A section of the drivers who spoke to KNA said the decision was long overdue as they have suffered since the introduction of their mandatory testing.
“We are eagerly waiting for the app. It will greatly minimise the time we waste visiting the Covid-19 test centres to check on our results,” said Mark Kibet who transports cargo between Mombasa and Tororo-Uganda.
He added that once introduced the app will also quicken delivery of their respective test results hence reducing the days spent queuing on the highway awaiting results.
“The app should be rolled out as soon as possible so that we can download it. Once our samples have been taken the results take two to three days before they are released. After they are out you are again forced to travel to the test centre to pick them and this makes the process cumbersome,” Kibet said.
Peter Muraya who transports cargo between Mombasa and Kampala-Uganda said besides saving them plenty of time the app will also reduce transmission of Coronavirus.
“With the hard copy certificates it is possible to transmit the virus from one person to the other as we keep on handing them to police officers and other officials along the road oblivious of their Coronavirus status,”Muraya said.
Another truck driver plying between Mombasa and Kampala-uganda and Juba in Southern Sudan hailed developers of the mobile app saying it will greatly reduce the truck pile-up that has been witnessed along the Bungoma-Malaba and Kisumu-Busia highways for the last three months as they wait clearance to enter Uganda.
“The decision is tremendous. Our test results will just be a click away. At the moment we are wasting a lot of time and money moving up and down to go and check our results at the testing centres,”Abdala Boru said.
The European Union Ambassador to Kenya Simon Mordue made the intent to introduce the app public on Friday when he toured the Busia One Stop Border Post on Friday accompanied by Health CAS Rashid Aman and East African Community Principal Secretary Kevit Desai.
Mordue said the app set to be rolled out in the next two weeks has a regional electronic cargo driver tracking system that will enable tracking of individual truck drivers’ Covid-19 status.
