Mozambique: Country denies entry to 10 Zimbabweans for breaking quarantine

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Mozambique: Country denies entry to 10 Zimbabweans for breaking quarantine

7:35 CAT | 18 Mar 2020

Photo: Miramar

The group had been in South Africa in the last 10 days, in regions with confirmed cases of coronavirus

The Mozambican authorities on Wednesday prevented 10 Zimbabweans from entering the border of Machipanda, in central Mozambique, because they were violating the quarantine they were supposed to respect, an official source told Lusa.

The group tried to cross the main land border between Mozambique and Zimbabwe after being in regions with confirmed cases of coronavirus in South Africa in the last 10 days.

“Being Zimbabweans and because they did not comply with the quarantine time, they were returned,” said Jorge Machava, spokesman for the migration services in Manica, arguing that the measure comes as part of response actions against the Covid-19 pandemic.

Entry was denied after the new coronavirus screening process, which includes checking the migration movement of foreigners over the past 14 days, at an improvised health post in a tent near the border.

“They have been returned to comply with the 14 days and only then can they enter Mozambique,” he added.

The migration authorities, he continued, stepped up their migration control measures after the second case of coronavirus in Zimbabwe was reported.

An average of 1,500 people passes through the border post in Machipanda every day.

The crossing is in Manica province where two Brazilians remain in quarantine, while two other Chinese have already completed the isolation period without symptoms of the new coronavirus.

The South African Ministry of Health on Wednesday announced 31 new cases of infection with the new coronavirus in less than 24 hours, bringing the total number of positive cases in the country to 116.

Source: Lusa