The Government Information Centre (KTK) has announced that Hungary is joining a host of other countries in restricting air travel from the southern African region in an effort to contain a highly mutated variant of the coronavirus identified there.
The EU Council on Friday debated response measures to the newly-identified B.1.1.529 South African coronavirus variant and recommended pulling an “emergency brake” and imposing temporary restrictions on non-essential travel from southern Africa.
Under a government decree published in Magyar Közlöny on Saturday, Hungarian nationals who arrive from southern Africa or have visited the region in the two weeks prior to returning home will have to quarantine for a period of 14 days. The restrictions apply to arrivals from Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, the Republic of South Africa and Zimbabwe. Hungarians returning from the region will be required to enter a designated or official home quarantine regardless of whether or not they are suspected of having contracted the virus. The decree bans entry to all non-Hungarian citizens from the region with the exception of those given special permission by the authorities. Foreign nationals given permission to enter are still required to quarantine for a full 14 days even if they produce a negative PCR test.
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