Asked about the shortage of tests upon arrival at the National Assembly, for the solemn opening session of the parliamentary year, which will be marked by President João Lourenço's speech on the State of the Nation, the minister confirmed that "there was a short break" of two days regarding the offer of serological tests that assess exposure to the coronavirus.
Silvia Lutucuta justified the problem with the air connections, but said that more tests will arrive in the country on Friday.
"[The tests] are acquired in the international market, which is very competitive, but we have done everything to not miss them. This time what happened was a problem of transition, from one route to another, but tomorrow morning they are already here in Angola", he stressed.
The ruler pointed out that covid-19 represents "a worldwide challenge" and not only in Angola and said that "the insufficiency of tests will be solved" also in other provinces.
Silvia Lutucuta also said that the country has increased its testing capacity through RT-PCR (molecular-based tests).
The lack of serological tests forced TAAG company to cancel at least one flight on Monday to Cabinda.
According to the latest law that updated the exceptional and temporary measures during the public calamity situation, in force until November 7, passengers will have to submit a pre-boarding test of covid-19 with negative result.
For boarding on international flights to and from Angola it is mandatory to present a RT-PCR test with a negative result, made within 72 hours before the trip, while on domestic flights it is required to present a serological test.
The scarcity of tests to screen covid-19 also conditioned the coverage of the parliamentary year in the National Assembly of Angola, leaving several media out of the plenary, since the testing of journalists would also be mandatory.
Angola has 6846 positive cases of covid-19, of which 227 died.
