31 March 2020 – Mozambique declares State of Emergency

Type of Intervention: Executive Order
Sectors Involved: Executive Office, Civil Defense
Intervention Categories: Legal and Policy; Declaring state of emergency
Level of Jurisdiction: National
Lead People/Agency: President of Mozambique

Overview: In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, the President of the Republic declared the State of Emergency, through Presidential Decree No. 11/2020, of March 30, ratified by Law No. 1/2020, of March 31:

The declaration of the State of Emergency covers the entire national territory.

The following restrictive measures must be taken:
a) suspension of the issuance of entry visas and cancellation of visas already issued;
b) suspension of classes in all public and private schools, from pre-school to university education;
c) prohibition on the holding of public and private events, such as religious services, cultural, recreational, sporting, political, associative, tourist and other activities, except:
i. urgent State issues;
ii. social issues, such as funeral ceremonies;
iii. practice of physical maintenance activities, in open spaces.
d) suspension of all procedural and administrative terms, including disciplinary proceedings;
e) suspension of the statute of limitations and expiry dates for all processes and procedures; and
f) mandatory implementation of preventive measures in all public and private institutions and in public passenger transport.

2. The following special restrictive measures must also be taken:
a) subjection to mandatory home quarantine, from 14 to 21 days, for all citizens arriving in the country, who have been in places with active cases and those who have had direct contact with confirmed cases of COVID-19, and the authorities must health authorities to adopt effective control mechanisms;
b) mandatory use, correctly and consciously, of cloth masks or other material and / or visors in all places where people are crowded, such as public roads, markets, common areas and in collective and semi-collective passenger transport;
c) limiting the internal movement of people in any part of the national territory, as long as there is an exponential increase in cases of contamination, and the sanitary enclosure may be adopted;
d) imposing the internment of people in a health establishment for therapeutic purposes;
e) limiting the entry and exit of people from Mozambican territory, through the partial closure of their borders, except for matters of interest to the State, humanitarian support, health and cargo transportation;
f) demand for real-time knowledge of people through the use of geolocation;
g) requisition for the provision of health services, similar services and others that are considered complementary;
h) closure of amusement and similar commercial establishments;
i) inspection of the prices of essential goods for the population, including those necessary to prevent and combat the pandemic;
j) promotion and reorientation of the industrial sector for the production of inputs necessary to combat the pandemic;
k) adoption of sustainable fiscal and monetary policy measures to support the private sector in addressing the economic impact of the pandemic;
l) adoption of communication strategies for the intensification of community education measures and the transmission of pandemic prevention messages, including in national languages;
m) introduction of labor turnover, tele-work or other modalities depending on the specificities of the work area, ensuring, however, mechanisms for controlling effectiveness;
n) creation of alternative forms of assistance, such as telephone and / or e-mail, to replace face-to-face assistance in public and private institutions.

3. The measures enacted and their implementation must respect the principle of proportionality and limit their extent, duration and means used to what is strictly necessary.

4. The execution of the measures enacted, during the State of Emergency, will be ensured by the municipal and local structures and by the Defense and Security Forces, if necessary.
Full details here: http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-03/31/c_138932458.htm

Type of Justification: Advice of INTERNAL government advisory committee or group, Learning from other jurisdictions
Evidence/Justification: Guided by the supreme interest in safeguarding public health, for every Mozambican and foreigners residing in our country, we decided to require mandatory quarantine for all citizens who have recently returned to the country or have had contact with the confirmed cases of COVID-19