Tanzania introduces new Covid-19 travel restrictions

Tanzania, which has faced fierce criticism for its lacklustre approach to combatting Covid-19, has introduced several new travel restrictions. Business Insider reports that the new laws which have come into immediate effect require travellers from countries with new Covid-19 variants, like SA, to undergo a 14-day quarantine. ‘Based on the global epidemiological situation and emergence of new variants of viruses that cause Covid-19, there is an increased risk of their importation into our country,’ said Health Ministry permanent secretary Abel Makubi. The new travel advisory requires that face masks be worn at airports and all travellers to present a negative Covid-19 certificate upon arrival in Tanzania. The wearing of masks in public spaces, however, is not mandatory. Although the country initially responded to the pandemic by quarantining travellers and reissuing guidelines presented by the WHO, Tanzania was not placed under lockdown. The government, now led by President Samia Suluhu Hassan, is still not releasing any Covid-19 data, but she has established an advisory panel of health experts to help plot the response to the pandemic.