Omicron Scare: Equatorial Guinea Suspends All International Flights

The government of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea has suspended all international flights into the country with effect from Monday, Dec. 6, 2021 till Sunday, Jan. 2, 2022.

According to a decree signed by President Obiang Nguema Mbasogo sighted by HumAngle, the decision was aimed at preventing the outbreak of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus into the country.

The presidential decree also reinstated the curfew that was suspended on Nov. 15, 2021. The curfew now runs from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. even as the government has mandated vaccination for all residents of Equatorial Guinea and foreigners in the country.

“Taking into account the international epidemiological context contained in the last weekly report of the World Health Organization (WHO) which notes an augmentation in new cases and deaths and the recent announcement of the Omicron variant recently detected in several countries, these new measures would prevent new transmissions,” the decree stated

The decree, however, revealed that the number of new COVID-19 positive cases in the country has been on the decrease with a positive rate of 0.4 per cent.

The government of Equatorial Guinea had on Sept. 17, 2021 imposed obligatory vaccination against the coronavirus for all civil servants as well as individuals physically seeking services within public administrative offices.

So far, of the country’s 1.3 million population, 247,515 have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccines and 198,169 have received two doses.

For now, only internal professionals or journeys for health reasons are authorised and the travelers must carry a vaccination card and a negative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test result.

A total of 13,592 Equato-Guineans have so far tested positive for the COVID-19 with 175 dead since the pandemic hit the country in March 2020.