Presidency of the Government
- The Prime Minister of Equatorial Guinea (“EG”) enacted an Order on 15 March 2020 with several measures envisaging to curtail the outbreak of COVID-19. The measures implemented include:
- Closing of all private and public schools as from 16 March
- Immediate suspension of all sport events
- Suspension of all religious celebrations
- Gatherings of more than 10 persons are not recommended
- Prohibition to use buses for public transportation
- Restaurants and bars may remain opened to the public but owners are required to secure strict sanitation measures in the facilities and mitigate risk of infection to a maximum. Nevertheless, parties and similar celebrations are not authorized in these establishments;
- Immediate closure of discos, pubs, casinos, parks and public pools
- All celebratory events, such as birthday parties, first communions’ and weddings are suspended
- Large crowds cannot attend burials that are now restricted to close relatives
The above measures are valid for at least 30 days as from 15 March 2020.
Government departments and agencies will remain open but officials are obliged to report all cases of individuals that have symptoms to the Technical Committee for Surveillance of COVID-19. The Government has made two phone numbers available for that purpose: Tel.: 222 273 815 and 222 517 030.
The Technical Committee for Surveillance of COVID-19 will be releasing information on prevention and pandemic control measures in social media on a regular basis.
The Government has also summoned airlines operating in EG to provide a detailed list of all passengers arriving into EG since 1 February 2020 (including government officials) to the Ministry of Health.
Ministry of National Security
A press release of 15 March 2020 informed the population that the activities of the National Center for Issuance of Official Documents (commonly known as CNEDOGE) are temporarily suspended until the current pandemic is under control. Both the Malabo and Bata offices of the CNEDOGE are closed.
The document that was issued mentions that the CNEDOGE will only handle cases duly authorized but the press release is silent on what cases qualify for the special authorization.
Ministry of Health and Social Welfare
A press release of 17 March 2020 informed the population that:
- Control at borders has been reinforced. The measure covers airports, terrestrial borders and ports137 persons have been placed under quarantine at different hotels and are being monitored by the medical teams appointed by the Government
- The Baney research laboratory has been certified by the World Health Organization for COVID-19 testing and has already performed more than 53 tests to COVID-19. As of today, 3 persons have been tested positive: 2 nationals and a foreigner.
- All the individuals are currently under quarantine and were all passengers of the Ceiba Intercontinental flight arriving from Madrid on 13 March.
- The passengers remain without symptoms and under close medical surveillance.
- The Sampaca hospital center is fully equipped and ready to handle all potentially related COVID-19 cases.
- The Minister invites all citizens and public and private entities to collaborate with the Government to fight COVID-19 in EG.
The Ministry of Health has been releasing daily updates on the Government efforts to control the pandemic and on the medical condition of the citizens placed on quarantine.
Our team is available to assist with any doubts or questions concerning the impact of the measures promoted by the government on the day-to-day business.
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