Nairobi — The 34 British students under isolation in a Kisumu hotel after one of them was diagnosed with swine flu are set to return to the UK on Sunday, a health official revealed.

The students leave Kisumu on Saturday for Nairobi where they will spend a night before their departure, the Nyanza provincial director of public health, Dr Jackson Kioko, said.

The condition of the student who had tested positive, Dr Kioko said, had improved.

A technical team was due to meet later on Saturday to review the situation and issue the group with certificates of health as is the routine for people who are quarantined.

Best attention

Dr Kioko said the group received the best medical attention on a daily basis, contrary to reports in a section of the British press alleging the students were mistreated.

Dr Kioko stated the students had requested to go back home immediately after the medical team clears them. At the British High Commission, the staff remained tight-lipped on the travel plans for the students.

A spokesperson, Ms Charley Williams, who spoke to Saturday Nation on phone said the decision was private and was being handled by the local medical personnel. And laboratory test results for the pupils of Alendu Primary School where the UK students visited are yet to be released.

There has been conflicting information on the number of UK students who had tested positive with the government insisting that the 33 UK students had tested negative for swine flu despite reports in the British press that eight of them were positive.