Starting today, no more health questions for travelers on domestic flights

Photo: Brümilda Swartbooi

• Passengers on domestic flights will no longer have to complete a health department questionnaire about possible Covid-19 symptoms and contact with infected people.
• The department says it is focusing its resources on screening for international travelers.
• Mango advised passengers to still arrive two and a half hours before flights.
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Starting Wednesday, South Africans traveling on domestic flights will not have to complete a questionnaire about their health and possible contact with people who have tested positive for Covid-19.

Since the end of May, when domestic flights in South Africa resumed, all passengers had to complete a mandatory questionnaire, which was verified by the government’s Port Health Services at the airport.

The questionnaire included questions about whether the passenger has been in contact with someone with a “confirmed or suspected case” of Covid-19, and whether they have been at an event with more than 50 people in the last 14 days.

If you confirmed Covid-19 symptoms (fever, cough, or shortness of breath in the past 14 days) as part of the questionnaire, it could have meant that you were not allowed to fly.

But the questionnaire for domestic travelers has now been scrapped, the health department announced Tuesday.

This is because officials are now focusing their efforts on detecting international travelers.

“The reopening of international travel has resulted in the need to reorient port sanitary capacity towards international travel to ensure that the risk of importing cases is minimized. Therefore, the Department has made the decision to withdraw the implementation of national controls by Port Health officials at all international airports, ”the department said in a statement.

Still, all passengers must wear masks and their temperature will be monitored and they will receive disinfectants at the airport entrances.

Mango said that while travel permits are no longer required for domestic travel, airports will only allow entry to those with proper documentation for flights, including tickets and identity documents.

While not completing the health questionnaires will reduce travel time, Airports Company SA said passengers still need to arrive two hours before departures.

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