Sequeira returns to Lisbon but regrets “incomprehensible decision”
Maputo, 04 dec 2021 (Lusa) – University professor Jorge Sequeira was detained in Maputo for five days following the closing of the borders to the southern African countries and today, in the first operation to support the return between Maputo and Lisbon, he regrets the “incomprehensible decision” “.
“Let’s be happy because we’re back to our land […], but I find this decision incomprehensible”, the professor tells Lusa, moments before boarding TAP’s “return support” flight, at the door of Maputo International Airport.
Sequeira was in Maputo to give a one-hour presentation at a conference of the Mozambican Association of Accountants and Auditors and his return to Portugal was due to take place in less than a week, but he ended up being held back for another five days, although it was not difficult because ” in the Mozambican capital the weather is good and the people are nice “.
“This is the best place in the world to be held back”, the professor authentic, with a dose of humor in the mix.
Like Sequeira, dozens of people were at Maputo International Airport for a first operation to support the return (in both directions), after the Member States of the European Union (EU) have decided to suspend air connections with seven southern African countries, including Mozambique, due to the identification of the Omicron variant of the covid-19 virus in South Africa.
TAP’s Airbus A330-900 landed at 8:04 am in Maputo, with a total of 89 passengers, and left, two hours later, completely full, according to data provided to Lusa by crew members.
Passengers with Portuguese nationality, holders of a residence permit in Portugal and EU citizens, Schengen Associated States and members of their respective families boarded the Maputo – Lisbon flight.
At Maputo International Airport, the atmosphere was mixed, between the happiness of those returning home and the anger of those who had to reorganize their plans to spend Christmas with their family.
“The flight is completely full, as I understand it. My big concern was to be able to spend Christmas with my family and we were caught in the middle of a whirlwind. It was a regretful thing”, Professor Pedro Vidal tells Lusa, moments before entering no flight.
“I think it’s an excess and an exaggeration. If this country [Moçambique] and others [da região] they were already bad, now they will be in a worse situation. This has nothing to do with a pandemic, it’s a trade that only matters as great potentials”, due to Cândido Barros, another birth, moments before embarking back to Lisbon.
“My company managed to get this space and I’m glad this flight happened. This will allow us to return to our jobs,” he said, moments after arriving in Maputo.
Although he admits that the situation is exhausting, he believes that restrictive measures are necessary, considering we are facing a pandemic.
“These things are obligatory. We are facing a pandemic for which there is not much information about it. There is little caution.”
A reservation for return flights is made directly with TAP, but the Consulate General of Portugal in Maputo as well as the Consulate General in Beira are available for contacts by anyone who has “difficulty in making a reservation” and has ” proof of urgency in the displacement, for serious health reasons or permanent departure from the country”.
On flights to Lisbon, all passengers, vaccinated or not, were required to present a negative result of an RT-PCR test or similar nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT).
Upon arrival in Portugal, all passengers will be forwarded to “their own location inside the airport for the purpose of carrying out a new nucleic acid amplification test (TAAN) or rapid antigen test (TRAg), to screen for SARS- CoV-2 and subsequent genomic sequencing, as well as for determination of prophylactic isolation by health authorities.
The World Health Organization (WHO) found on Tuesday that “travel bans will not prevent the international spread” of the Omicron variant and “represent a heavy burden on lives and livelihoods”, and could “have an adverse impact on global efforts “to fight the pandemic”.
The Portuguese-speaking country has a cumulative total of more than 1,900 deaths and more than 150,000 cases of covid-19, of which 98% were recovered and seven were hospitalized.