Namibia withdraws 5-day Covid retest for international travellers

Windhoek, Oct 22 (IANS) Namibian President Hage Geingob has said the country had decided to withdraw the mandatory five day Covid-19 retest requirement for all travelers who arrive in Namibia with a negative PCR test result, that is not older than 72 hours.Speaking at a media briefing, Geingob said travelers with a negative PCR test result that is not older than three days will be permitted to proceed to their final destination in the countr, Xiunhua news agency reported.Namibia is withdrawing the requirement in a bid to attract tourists to visit the country."The government of Namibia had started to implement the Tourism Revival Initiative a few weeks ago. This initiative had started to show encouraging results. Going forward, this is how things will be done," Geingob said.He also said all travelers who arrive in Namibia with a negative PCR test result that is not older than 7 days, will be permitted to enter the country, but will be required to undergo 7-days supervised quarantine at home or tourism facility.He added that non-Namibians, who do not present a negative COVID-19 PCR test result, will not be granted entry into the country.According to the Health Ministry, in the past four weeks, the country has seen 40 per cent reduction in the number of Covid-19 related deaths while the number of new cases has decreased by 61 per cent.The country has so far recorded 12,367 Covid-19 cases and 132 deaths.
--IANS int/