Angola's Minister of State for Social Affairs considers that the measure to isolate her country from Southern African countries, including Mozambique, was necessary to avoid heavy consequences.

"But [that] doesn't mean we can't review it and adapt it as the situation evolves," Carolina Cerqueira said.

Due to the emergence of the omicron variant of covid-19, Angola announced last week the temporary suspension of flights from Mozambique, South Africa, Botswana, eSwatini, Malawi, Namibia and Zimbabwe, starting December 1st.

Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the SEDES - Association for Economic and Social Development Congress, which is being held from Friday through Sunday in Carcavelos, Cascais, the official acknowledged that the economic consequences could worsen, as has happened so far since the pandemic broke out.

"The social fabric was destabilized by the pandemic, the economy went backwards, families resented the decline in their purchasing power," he said.

The minister also added that Angola already has about 30% of the population vaccinated against covid-19, and was confident that "the population over 18 will be vaccinated in its majority," although without giving any time frame.

"We have managed to extend the vaccination network throughout the country, both through the aid that has been given to us by various countries, and also because the government is acquiring vaccines, (...) with financial means made available by the State Budget," said the minister.

Carolina Cerqueira added that the Angolan authorities have also vaccinated a large number of nomadic populations, traditional groups that exist mainly in the south and southeast of Angola.

Covid-19 has caused at least 5,233,111 deaths worldwide, among more than 263.61 million infections by the new coronavirus recorded since the pandemic began, according to the most recent tally by Agence France-Presse.

A new variant, omicron, classified as "worrisome" by the World Health Organization (WHO), was detected in southern Africa, but since the South African health authorities sounded the alert on November 24, infections have been reported in about 30 countries on all continents, including Portugal.

Recently the Netherlands announced that the new variant had already been discovered on its territory on November 19, before South Africa reported it to the WHO.