The National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) recommended this Friday (26) restrictive measures for flights and travelers coming from South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and Zimbabwe.
The recommendations are based on the discovery of a new variant of SARS-CoV-2, identified as B.1.1.529. The new strain of Covid-19 was first identified in South Africa.
The implementation of the measures recommended today by Anvisa depends on an interministerial decree issued jointly by the Civil House, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Ministry of Justice and Public Security.
Anvisa’s recommendations are:
- Immediate suspension of flights from South Africa, Botswana, Swatini, Lesotho, Namibia and Zimbabwe;
- Temporary suspension of the authorization to disembark in Brazil of a foreign traveler passing through South Africa, Botswana, Swatini, Lesotho, Namibia and Zimbabwe in the last 14 days, which does not meet the exceptions to be determined by Organs competent bodies and immigration;
- Quarantine, shortly after disembarking in Brazil, for Brazilian travelers and their legal companions or those who fall within the exceptionalities provided for in Ordinance 658/2021, with origin or history of passage through South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and Zimbabwe in the last 14 days prior to entry into the country.
Anvisa also asks for strengthening the monitoring of travelers from the aforementioned countries who disembark in Brazil until the implementation of the suggested measures.
“Until the restrictive measures suggested in this Technical Note are implemented, the Agency recommends that the monitoring, by the health authorities, of travelers from the aforementioned countries, arriving in Brazil, be strengthened”, says the agency.
Reference: CNN Brasil
