The new measures of the Presidential Decree on the Situation of Public Calamity, which were presented by the Minister of State and head of the Civil House of the President of the Republic, Adão de Almeida, will be in force for the next 30 days, effective from this Sunday, until 6 of September 2021.
Adão de Almeida said that casinos and game rooms will start operating, in a period that can last until 22:00, but with the closing of discos and other night clubs, and should operate with a maximum of 50 percent of its capacity, mandatory use of a face mask.
Music performances were also authorized to have an occupancy rate of up to 75 percent of the space's capacity, against the previous 50 percent.
Of the changes, two changes should also be highlighted regarding the functioning of educational establishments, the first on the increase in the hours of attendance of students in schools, which went from four to six hours, to allow for a better programming of teaching activities and better ability to comply with curricular programs, the second being the opening of cafeterias, previously only allowed for preschool.
With regard to sports, from Sunday, gymnasiums in closed spaces can be opened for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, with a maximum of 50 percent of their capacity, and compliance with biosafety measures, namely the distance between people.
For commerce and services, the rules are maintained, and the rules for the operation of restaurants and the like are also repeated.
A slight change was also seen with regard to markets and street vendors, eliminating the bans on working days.
"Until recently, we had markets operating from Tuesday to Saturday, on Sunday and Monday it was prohibited, now the ban is eliminated, and local government bodies must determine the functioning of the markets in the normal terms, with the days reserved for sanitation and cleaning of markets, which is also valid for street sales," he added.
Adão de Almeida said that it is still mandatory for citizens to wear masks on public streets and in all public places of population concentration, with citizens having to retire between midnight and 5:00 am.
The national sanitary fence was also maintained, with the possibility of returning to the country all national citizens abroad, as well as resident foreign citizens, with a work visa and with any employment relationship with public or private bodies, to provide services in Angola, an opening that extends for humanitarian aid situations and the entry and exit of the sick, official travel, diplomatic and consular personnel.
"All entries into the national territory, due to the national fence, are subject to the pre-shipment test by RT-PCR, which must be carried out 72 hours before the trip, as well as the completion of a post-landing test performed at the airport or at land entry points, with citizens subject to home quarantine," he informed.
Regarding the institutional quarantine, the maximum period of this restriction goes from ten days to seven days "or slightly earlier, depending on the management that the health authorities do" can be discharged after the negative test result.
In case of a positive result in the SARS-COV 2 test, the citizen not manifesting symptoms can continue to be isolated at home.
Casinos and gaming houses may operate after more than a year closed
The Government maintained most of the measures to prevent and combat covid-19, with some changes, highlighting the opening of casinos, which had been closed since the beginning of the pandemic in the country, in March 2020.
