Foreigners who are in Angola with an expired visa will have the document valid until May 15, due to the exceptional measures provided for in the state of emergency, said the Interior Ministry (MININT) spokesman, Valdemar José.
The deputy commissioner, who took stock of the operational activity during the state of emergency today, stressed that the expired visa for foreigners will be considered valid until May 15, and resident cards or refugee documents will also be valid until May 30.
“They should not worry about running to the institutions to regularize these documents”, he guaranteed, explaining that the measures have already been contemplated in an executive decree of MININT.
The same is true of driving licenses, booklets and other expired documents that “are not now being inspected by the authorities”.
Valdemar José pointed out that the police continued to “see a lot of resistance from citizens and traders”, which increased the number of arrests.
63 citizens were arrested for disobedience to the measures of the state of emergency and price speculation and 429 citizens were collected, 417 for disobedience and 12 for being on the public road, with 36 clusters dispersed.
74 vehicles were also apprehended that exceeded the permitted passenger limit, of which 33 in Luanda, as well as 415 mototaxis, whose circulation is prohibited during this period.
Ten informal markets were closed in Luanda, as well as warehouses and companies prevented from operating while the state of emergency is in force.
“Many ask why we did not close everything, because unfortunately in Angola we still have families that survive from their daily leave, if they do not die from covid, they may die of hunger”, he stressed, adding that “there must be a balance”.
The MININT official regretted some acts and the use of excessive force by some policemen that occurred in the last 24 hours, in particular assaults in a police station, guaranteeing that “there is no cover-up by the authorities” in these cases, and added that the commander of the squad and some staff are already detained.
The authorities also suffered acts of violence, namely a soldier who was burned when a citizen who was approached shot him with “hot porridge” and an agent who was run over by a motorcycle taxi driver in Talatona (Luanda).
Valdemar José also called attention to the large number of invalid calls to the emergency number 111, including many made by children.
More than 3,000 police barriers controlled who could and could not move, supported by air patrols in Luanda.
Angola declared a state of emergency to combat the covid-19 pandemic at 00:00 on March 20, extending until 11:59 pm on April 11. The measures include restrictions on the movement of people and the operation of commercial establishments.
The new coronavirus, responsible for the covid-19 pandemic, has already infected more than 905,000 people worldwide, of whom almost 46,000 died.
Of the infection cases, at least 176,500 are considered cured.
After appearing in China in December, the outbreak spread worldwide, prompting the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare a pandemic situation.
The number of deaths in Africa has risen to at least 209 in a universe of more than 5,940 confirmed cases in 49 countries, according to statistics on the disease on the continent.
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