President Cyril Ramaphosa announced late Wednesday 16th September, that South Africa will begin allowing travel in and out of the country beginning October 1 amid a substantial decline in coronavirus cases.
Visitors coming from countries without high infection rates will be permitted to enter South Africa if they have a proof of a coronavirus test no older than 72 hours prior to their departure.
During a televised address, Ramaphosa said travellers without a valid COVID-19 test will be quarantined until an acceptable coronavirus test is presented.
Source: Voice Of America
The Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND) and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) have announced a new partnership to build capacity in readiness for the introduction of new, high-quality antigen rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) for COVID-19 that are anticipated to become available soon. The announcement builds on a long-standing relationship between the two organizations – and established links with local partners across the continent – which was recently formalized with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding to drive access to essential diagnostics in Africa.
Many African nations are starting to reopen airports, remove curfews, and slowly resume international tourism.
Most countries in Africa have been very strict on containing the spread of the virus, with most of them going into complete lockdowns earlier this year. That means nobody in and nobody out. Now that case numbers are relatively low across the continent, some nations have already reopened, with others making plans on how to reopen responsibly.
As Covid-19 cases continued to climb sharply, Ethiopia’s Ministry of Health on Sunday announced that the country will start manufacturing its own test kits with China’s help.
The announcement came as the Horn of Africa nation passed the mark of one million tests, the third-highest in the continent after South Africa and Morocco.
The ministry said preparations for the collaboration with China were going well.