JOY AS PCR TESTS, MASKS OUTDOORS SCRAPPED

MBABANE – It is now official!

EmaSwati will be pleased to know that travellers will now be required to produce proof of full vaccination for COVID-19 or a negative PCR test of not more than 72 hours at the country’s borders. This was announced by the Prime Minister (PM), Cleopas Sipho Dlamini, yesterday during a press briefing held at Cabinet Offices. He further announced that the relaxed restrictions did not apply to children under the age of 12.  The PM said this would be effective immediately, further stating that fully vaccinated travellers entering and leaving the country would no longer need a PCR test. Government emphasised that for now, when they said fully vaccinated, they meant complete doses of a vaccine.

Vaccinated

The PM’s statement was corroborated by the Ministry of Health Principal Secretary (PS), Dr Simon Zwane, who said; “Fully vaccinated means complete doses of a vaccine; two doses for a two-dose vaccine, and one dose for a one-dose vaccine. Valid vaccination certificates considered are those of COVID-19 vaccine from candidates that have been prequalified by WHO,” said Dr Zwane. He further said this would be updated periodically as per the need. Further clarifying and clearing possible confusion, he said vaccination cards were not allowed at the points of entry but only vaccination certificates. Worth noting is that outbound travellers from Eswatini must also comply with the requirements of the airlines and the country of transit and destination.

Exempted

“Children under 12 years are exempted from the above measures. In addition, all travellers, upon arrival at the points of entry will be checked and sanitised,” said Dr Zwane. Truck drivers were among those who welcomed the decision to waive COVID-19 PCR testing requirements for the fully vaccinated. An elated truck driver, Peter Thwala, who frequently travels to South Africa, said he was happy with the decision. “We frequently take PRC tests, and some of us travel in and out of the country every other day,” Thwala said. “We are fully vaccinated so it makes sense that government has dropped the PCR tests. That is welcome.” Another truck driver who frequents South Africa, Sambulo Shiba, said they were elated by the announcement.

Shiba said they fully welcomed the announcement and it was about time. “This is honestly good news, I’m personally happy because this means less money to spend on tests. God knows we were between a rock and hard place with this requirement,” he said. Speaking on behalf of hawkers, Phandzel’umntfwana Chairman Mabhawodi Dlamini said they were happy with the official announcement. He said this was good news for them even though they were already travelling outside the country without the PCR tests.

Certificates

“All that hawkers need now is to carry their vaccination certificates and we are home free. This is less costly for the women who are already trying to survive through their businesses,” he said. Lobamba Lomdzala Member of Parliament Marwick Khumalo said the relaxation of the restrictions by government was too late, but warmly welcomed. Khumalo was one of the legislators who strongly advocated for the scrapping of masks and PCR tests. When reached for comment yesterday, he said even though the relaxed restrictions were announced a bit too late, they were warmly welcomed.

Meanwhile, Business Eswatini (BE) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Nathi Dlamini said as a business community, they were happy and applauded government for making such a decision.
Dlamini said BE welcomed government’s revised COVID-19 restrictions. “We recognise government for making a sensible decision after many days of speculation and frustration by many businesspeople, especially those who do cross-border travelling. As a business community, we were beginning to fret about this untenable situation, for reasons which are not too hard to find,” he said.  Dlamini said, primarily, it should not be lost  that South Africa was their main trading partner and, this being the case, they  ought to ensure that the country’s  policies, especially those that had to do with COVID-19 restrictions, were  coordinated such that they were not in variance with each other.

“It is our hope that by now, the two governments have a mechanism in place that enables them to notify each other before taking any decisions which are likely to affect the trade flows between the two countries, which is what good neighbours do. And we trust this is the case here. For now though, we would like to applaud our government for taking the right decision,” he said.  Dlamini’s sentiments were echoed by Eswatini Tourism Authority (ETA) Head of Marketing Siboniso Madlopha, who said the newly-relaxed restrictions automatically made Eswatini a safe destination. He said this was because more people would get vaccinated and this meant more tourists would want to come into the country if a large percentage of the country’s population was vaccinated.

In addition, he said by scrapping the PCR tests, government ensured that Eswatini would be listed among southern Africa tour lists. “We are excited by the relaxed restrictions, this means a huge deal to the tourism industry at large, and it further encourages more people to vaccinate, especially if they do not wish to spend more money,” he said.  This publication, in December last year, announced that travellers were given some relief following that the COVID-19 PCR test prices had  been reduced from E850 to E500. This was with effect from December 13, 2021.

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