Netherlands lifts Sadc travel bans
LORRAINE NDEBELE
THE Netherlands has lifted the travel ban on Zimbabwe and other southern African countries which it imposed following the discovery of the Covid-19 Omicron variant in South Africa and Botswana last month.
This follows news that United States President Joe Biden was also considering lifting travel restrictions on people arriving from southern African countries.
The Covid-19 Omicron variant was first identified in South Africa and Botswana and has now become the dominant strain in the US.
The Dutch joined the US and other Western countries which banned flights from the region as a measure to reduce the risk of the new variant spreading to the Scandinavian country.
The ban affected passenger flights from southern African countries such as Zimbabwe, Botswana, South Africa, Malawi, Mozambique, Eswatini and Lesotho.
In a statement, The Netherlands government announced that the ban would be lifted as of yesterday.
The Dutch banned flights from southern Africa on November 26, 2021 although Dutch and foreign nationals who are registered in the Personal Records Database or the Non-residents Record Database (RNI) were exempted.
However, authorisations for temporary stay (MVV) holders were not exempted from the flight ban.
“Compelling reasons include visiting a seriously ill family member, attending a funeral or visiting a grandchild. In all other cases, family members and/or partners are not exempted from the flight ban.”
People travelling to the Netherlands for humanitarian reasons were expected to meet the requirements of the exemptions for the entry ban.
Additional requirements for exempted travellers included showing a negative test result before departing for The Netherlands.
The travellers are, however, required to quarantine on arrival in The Netherlands. The United Kingdom and several other European countries recently lifted similar bans.
“These requirements also apply to travellers who have been fully vaccinated or who have proof of recovery (EU Digital Covid-19 Certificate),” the Dutch government said.
Meanwhile, Biden told reporters at White House on Tuesday that he was considering reversing the travel bans imposed against southern Africa. He said his health advisers had suggested a relook at the embargo.
The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Monday that Omicron now accounts for more than 70% of new US cases of Covid-19.
The US government imposed restrictions on people travelling from South Africa and seven other nearby nations on November 29 after the discovery of the new variant.
The CDC notified airlines they must provide the names of passengers who had travelled from Southern Africa in recent days for health agencies to do contact tracing. However, the travel restrictions did not stop the Omicron variant from entering the US.
