Brazil closes its air borders to six African countries
The Brazilian government has announced that from next Monday it will close its air borders to six African countries for fear that the new variant of coronavirus B.1.1.529, known as omicron, will spread.
The Prime Minister of the Civil House, Ciro Nogueira, has reported that this restriction will be imposed on travelers from South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and Zimbabwe, according to the Brazilian media UOL. “We are going to protect Brazilians in this new phase of the pandemic,” remarked Nogueira, who has stressed that the measure has been adopted jointly by the Civil House and the ministries of Infrastructure, Health, Justice and Public Safety.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro indicated this Friday prior to Nogueira’s announcement that closing the air borders for the new variant was “madness”, arguing that “Brazil no longer supports a confinement.” The South American giant is one of the countries most affected by covid-19, which has already left more than 22 million confirmed cases and close to 615,000 deaths.
On the other hand, the Minister of Health of Guatemala, Francisco Coma, has detailed this Friday entry restrictions in the country for travelers from South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Egypt and Eswatini. Thus, those who have been in any of these countries in the last 14 days will not be able to enter the Central American country by air, land or sea, according to the Guatemalan media ‘La Prensa’.
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