“We recently brought in a specialist in security measures in closed places like hospitals and quarantine centers. We hope that the Ministry [of Health] and the Government will allow us to make an in-depth assessment of the quarantine centers”, declared Javier Aramburu Guarda, on the sidelines of the signing of the partnership agreement between the UN and Angola for the 2020-2022 period.
According to the expert, there are currently some restrictions on access. "We are certain that this aspect will be corrected promptly and we hope that in the next stage we will be able to access the quarantine centers", he said.
Javier Aramburu Guarda also said that Angola should “soon” begin to carry out analyzes to detect suspected cases, which he considered “a fundamental element” to fight the epidemic.
“Angola currently has high-quality equipment and personnel (…). We can say that, in the near future, Angola will be able to carry out the analyzes to confirm cases and that changes the country's way of reacting a lot”, he said.
The WHO Disease Prevention and Control officer stressed that Angola has reacted quickly since the first suspected cases of Covid-19, stressing the importance of having a contingency plan developed quickly, while recognizing that preparing for the epidemic “is not easy”, given the“ fast evolution of events ”.
Asked about the effectiveness of closing borders, he stressed that “the country is sovereign in terms of decisions regarding the entry of people from countries with cases of local transmission”, but added that the WHO recommends restrictions for countries that have intense transmission, such as it happens to China, Italy, South Korea and Iran, whose citizens are prohibited from entering Angolan territory due to the epidemic.
Javier Aramburu Guarda also stated that the withdrawal of African countries that were initially covered by the ban enacted by Angola (Nigeria, Egypt and Algeria) was "a healthy rectification".
On the other hand, he praised the screening activities that are being carried out at Luanda's international airport, saying that the assessment was “very positive”.
