Mozambique: Wearing of masks in open air no longer compulsory

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Mozambique: Wearing of masks in open air no longer compulsory

4:18 CAT | 20 Apr 2022

File photo: Lusa

Mozambican president, Filipe Nyusi, on Wednesday announced the end of the obligation to wear masks in open places, a measure that results from the reduction in the number of cases of Covid-19 in the country.

“The mask is not compulsory in open spaces however, it is advisable to wear it whenever one is in places where the recommended social distancing is not possible,” Filipe Nyusi said during an address to the nation marking the end of the “situation of public calamity” in Mozambique.

Although the use of masks is optional in open places, the Mozambican head of state stressed its mandatory use in closed places, except for children up to 11 years old.

“With this communication, we do not intend to say that the Covid-19 pandemic is over in Mozambique: we did not say to stop washing hands or adopting other prevention measures, which end up being a gain,” Filipe Nyusi said.

In addition, the Mozambican head of state said, foreign citizens, with the exception of children up to 11 years old, who want to enter Mozambique must present a vaccination certificate or a PCR test with a negative result done within the previous 72 hours.

For the Mozambican head of state, the reduction in the number of cases is a result of the ongoing vaccination process in the country, which has already reached 90% of the established target, which is to vaccinate a total of 16 million people by the end of this year.

“These figures place our country with the highest vaccination rates on the African continent,” he said.

Mozambique had been living in a state of public calamity since September 2020, with various restrictions, including a night curfew, which was in place until February this year, when the Mozambican executive decided to ease the restriction measures in light of the reduction in the number of cases.

Since the announcement of the first case in March 2020, the country has a cumulative total of 2,201 deaths and 225,338 cases of Covid-19, according to the latest updates from the ministry of health.

According to data advanced this week by statistics portal Our World in Data, Covid-19 has caused at least 6.2 million deaths worldwide since the pandemic began.

Source: Lusa