Senegal closes doors to EU travellers

Senegal has declared that it will not re-open its airspace to European Union (EU) travellers after the bloc did not include it on a list of “safe” states due to the coronavirus, according to media reports. 

The EU issued a list of 15 nations considered safe, taking into account “epidemiological criteria,” including Africa nations with a high number of confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths, such as Algeria and Morocco, the Africa News has reported. The EU list also included Rwanda and Tunisia.

Dakar declared a ban on travellers from the EU states as a probable retaliatory measure, but Minister of Tourism and Air Transport Alioune Sarr did not provide further details. Gabon also issued a similar ban on EU citizens.

Senegal confirmed 7,054 COVID-19 cases with 125 deaths, according to data compiled by US-based Johns Hopkins University.

Algeria has 14,657 COVID-19 cases with 928 deaths. The number of diagnosed cases in Morocco is 13,215, with 230 fatalities.