The Portuguese Association (AP) in Mozambique launched a petition for the re-establishment of regular air connection between Maputo and Lisbon, and to remove the 14-day isolation requirement upon arrival in Portugal.

According to AP vice-president Alexandre Costa, the petition represents a major revolt of what AP has observed over the past week regarding the suspension of commercial flights.

Despite its "revolting" nature, the document aims to demonstrate the "feeling" of despair that has gripped many people, and to get Portugal to ease restrictions as "other countries are already doing", in the context of the first reaction to the new variant of covid-19, Omicron.

Meanwhile, the UK and France have already announced the resumption of flights with Southern Africa, and within the European space restrictions have also been appropriate. Thus, the AP's appeal seems timely, all the more so because although Mozambique borders South Africa - where the new variant has been identified - there are still no records of Omicron cases.

This Monday morning, on departure for the second repatriation trip in the Mozambican capital, there was new criticism of the Portuguese authorities, but also of TAP.

A group of passengers will ask the captain of the plane, in mid-flight, to communicate to Lisbon that they want to be received by a higher authority.

The AP leader recalls the timeframe of about two weeks initially indicated by the health authorities to evaluate the behavior of the Omicron variant.

"I want to believe that the Portuguese government is waiting for the results of these two weeks, which are almost over, so that, like other countries," it can ease the restrictions "in a consensual way, maintaining rules such as distancing and everything that covid-19 obliges us to," he said.

The petition entitled "Resumption of Maputo-Lisbon-Maputo scheduled flights" is available on the Public Petition platform on the Internet and has now signed 1,549 people.

Source: vision