The testing of media professionals to cover the solemn opening session of the 4th legislative session, which will be marked by the speech of the President, João Lourenço, on the state of the nation, was initially scheduled for Monday, was postponed to this Tuesday, and again cancelled "for technical reasons".
By the end of the afternoon of Tuesday, the Office of Communication and Image (GCI) of the Parliament indicated that "due to the exiguity of tests, the professionals of communication who will have access to the plenary were prioritized", namely the public means.
According to the ICG, journalists who were unable to be tested will have access to the press room and the area outside parliament.
Contacted by Lusa, a GCI source revealed that between 60 and 70 tests were requested, but only about ten were received.
Journalists have been required to do serological tests to cover activities where the President of the Republic, members of the Government and of the ruling party, the MPLA, are present, and this condition has also been imposed to cover the beginning of the 4th legislative session of the 4th legislature.
The lack of tests in Luanda has already led to the cancellation of a TAAG flight that would make the connection between Luanda and Cabinda on Monday.
In statements to the Lusa agency, the spokesman for the airline, Carlos Vicente, said that the flight was scheduled for Monday, but was not carried out for lack of testing.
Asked if other flights were cancelled for the same reason, Carlos Vicente said that "for now it was only with the flight from Cabinda.
He said that the tests for domestic flights were being carried out at the airport, but "in the absence of the tests logically TAAG will not carry out the flights".
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 a 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 Lusa agency questioned the Ministry of Health about the scarcity of tests, which sent the clarifications to the Secretary of State for Public Health, Franco Mufinda, with no answer so far.
