Kenya’s government spokesperson Cyrus Oguna announced a ban on Thursday of all non-essential travel by public servants and advised citizens not to travel to avoid contracting coronavirus.

Mr Oguna also said the government was still implementing a self-isolation requirement for Kenyans and other travellers arriving from affected countries.

He said the new directives were issued after President Uhuru Kenyatta had met the committee established to co-ordinate preparations for the possible spread of coronavirus.

Kenya confirmed its first coronavirus case on Friday. The patient is a woman who had travelled home from the US last week.

Kenya has confirmed that a woman has tested positive for Covid-19.

Health Minister Mutahi Kagwe said she had arrived from the US on 5 March and tested positive for the virus on Thursday.

She had travelled from the US, transiting in London without leaving the airport.

The minister said the patient was now stable and eating, adding that her fever had gone down.

She would be kept in isolation until she tested negative, he said.