Africa-Press – Lesotho. Due to an increase in Covid-19 cases, the Ministry of Health (MoH) introduced digital solutions for trusted travel which will be put in operation from August
1st. Minister of Health Hon Semano Sekatle stated that Covid-19 pandemic continues to impact
global travel, disrupt trade, tourism and other economic activities. He added that to lessen these effects and to allow for economic activities, there has to
be developments on international travel. He noted that to respond to these global effects, many governments are demanding travellers to present negative
Covid-19 certificates at points of entry as well as exists. The Minister highlighted that to ensure the integrity of presented certificates at Lesotho’s borders, the National COVID-19 Secretariat (NACOSEC) and the MoH have
collaborated with the African Union and Africa Centre for Disease Control and prevention (CDC), with technical support from the PanaBIOS Consortium, to
implement an online system to authenticates and verifies traveller’s Covid-19 certificates in line with the Trusted Travel framework. He said Trusted Travel application is mainly to certify and publish authentic
laboratories and their results for credible testing and assurance of Covid-19 certification for international acceptance and travel. He continued that the
Government of Lesotho therefore, notifies the general public and travellers that starting from August 1st there will be development of the Trusted Travel application in all points of entry.
Explaining how the Trusted Travel application operates, he mentioned that an individual is directed to a laboratory to take an Rapid Test (RT) Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)
Covid-19 test with an identification card (ID) or a passport and waits for the results, he said alternatively the results will be sent to individuals through
email, Short Message Service (SMS) or they will be asked to revisit the place in order to receive results. He furthered that the email or SMS will contain a link to which the certificate
will be accessed. “Individuals will present their emails or SMSs at the border gates together with passports or IDs for verification of identity to cross.
One will only be allowed to cross over when they have their valid certificates,” he noted. Hon. Sekatle indicated that starting from August all travellers departing from
Lesotho will be expected to have the Trusted Travel code on their test result certificates, he said no traveller will depart from Lesotho without verification of their certificates using the Trusted Travel process unless
otherwise indicated in the risk mitigation framework. The Minister of Health furthered that individuals will pay for Trusted Travel certificate depending on how different laboratories operate on their own. He said the introduction of Trusted Travel certificates will not stop the payment for laboratories.
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