New coronavirus rules in Swaziland (eSwatini) require
travellers crossing the borders into neighbouring South Africa or Mozambique to
have tested negative for coronavirus.
The Swazi Ministry of Health announced on Wednesday
(30 September 2020) that people would have to pay to take a test at a private
laboratory. The charge, according to the Ministry, would be E850 (US$50).
In Swaziland about seven in ten of the 1.2 million
population have incomes less than E30 per day.
Minister of Health Lizzie Nkosi, said in a statement, the
test would have to be done not less than 72 hours before travel. Travellers
without a test certificate would be obliged to take a coronavirus (COVID-19)
test at the border. If a person was found to be positive they would be
isolated.
Nkosi said, ‘Essential Travelers such as daily
commuters i.e scholars, teachers, truck drivers who have been making cross
border travel during the travel restriction period will continue to travel
following the protocols they have previously used.’
Swaziland has been on a partial lockdown since March
2020. Nkosi said Swaziland continued to see ‘sustained community transmission’
and it was ‘still in the national emergency mode’. Non-essential travel remains
discouraged.
Meanwhile, the Times
of eSwatini reported on Thursday
that people had complained that it took three weeks to get coronavirus test
results. This made the result useless.
The death toll from coronavirus in Swaziland continues
to rise. On Wednesday the Ministry
of Health reported there had now been 109 deaths. There had been a total of
5,482 reported cases of coronavirus in the kingdom. Of these, 4,192 people had
recovered.
Figures
released by the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development
showed the gross domestic product in the economy had fallen by 2.9 percent in
the second quarter of 2020. This followed back-to-back declines of 2.4 and 1.2
percent in the previous two quarters.
See also
Swaziland faces jobs and poverty crisis as coronavirus disruption continues
https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2020/09/swaziland-faces-jobs-and-poverty-crisis.html
Swaziland coronavirus deaths top 100 as number of tests undertaken falls
https://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2020/09/swaziland-coronavirus-deaths-top-100-as.html
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