Czechs will not be able to travel to several African and South American countries after the Czech Foreign Ministry banned entry to Brazil, Kenya, and Zanzibar over the threat of the South African and Brazilian coronavirus variants.
The new measure responds to the threat of the introduction of the South African and Brazilian coronavirus mutations into the Czech Republic. The measure will come into force on Friday.
“Therefore, the Ministry of Health banned Czech citizens and other persons residing in the Czech Republic from February 26 to April 11, with urgent exceptions, from entering countries with an extreme risk of these mutations,” the government said.
Czechs are not allowed to travel to Botswana, Brazil, Swaziland, South Africa, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, including the islands of Zanzibar and Pemba, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Due to travel restrictions, Czechs currently fly to the sea resorts, according to travel agencies. Zanzibar is one of the most popular destinations in this regard. According to the spokeswoman of the Invia travel agency Andrea Řezníčková, Czech travelers are now also going to Zanzibar individually and linking it to a safari trip to Tanzania, she said.
According to available information, the trip to the island of Zanzibar is the reason behind the first case of a more contagious South African mutation of coronavirus in the Czech Republic. Officially, the confirmation of the occurrence of the mutation is still awaiting the national reference laboratory of the State Institute of Public Health.
