Govt Gazettes New COVID-19 Regulations For Returning Residents And Visitors
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The Minister of Health and Child Care, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, on Friday, gazetted Statutory Instrument 67 of 2022, the legal instrument that allows fully vaccinated travellers to enter the country without the need to present a PCR negative certificate.
The gazetting of the new regulations follows a Cabinet decision on Tuesday to scrap PCR Test requirements for all returning residents and visitors.
Under Statutory Instrument 67 of 2022, unvaccinated travellers will have to produce a PCR negative certificate valid for not more than 48 hours.
Fully vaccinated travellers are now exempted from the PCR negative certificate requirement. Read part of SI 67 0f 2022:
The Public Health (COVID19), Prevention, Containment and Treatment (national Lockdown) (No 2) (Amendment) order 2022 (No 40), published in Statutory Instrument 18 of 2022, is amended in section 2β¦ by the repeal of paragraph c and substitution of e for the purpose of Section 8 (power to close ports of entry and exit.
Provided that this paragraph does not apply to any returning resident or visitor who exhibits to an enforcement officer a valid vaccination certificate to the effect that he or she has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by means of one or more of the vaccines approved by the World Health Organisation for that purpose.
Speaking during a post-Cabinet media briefing in Harare on Tuesday, the Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Monica Mutsvangwa said:
Cabinet has resolved that returning residents and visitors are no longer required to present a negative PCR certificate on arrival at ports of entry.
Only a valid vaccination certificate showing that they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 with any one of the WHO-approved vaccines will suffice.
This is in recognition of the declining COVID-19 new cases, most of which are now very mild or have no symptoms and increasing vaccination coverage.
A negative PCR certificate will only be a requirement if the returning resident or visitor is not fully vaccinated.