South Africa’s Covid- 19 Screening For Travellers Goes Digital

The Department of Health has announced that it will move from paper- based Covid-19 screening systems to digitized systems. The digital screening system will go live from noon on 15th December 2020.

In a statement released by the Department of Health, it was communicated that the web- based system will allow travellers to complete the travel health questionnaire on their personal devices before travelling.

“The web-based THQ platform will complement and strengthen the existing method of screening and surveillance at ports of entry. It is a user-friendly tool allowing travellers to complete the travel health questionnaire on their personal devices prior to their travel,” said the department.

The system will allow travellers to file travel and symptomatic information as early as 2 days ahead of their scheduled travel. Once completed, the traveller will receive a look-up ID which they will present at the respective port of entry, so as to continue with the screening process.

However, the travellers will still be subjected to certain screening procedures at the port of entry such as temperature check. The system will provide better data collection and storage. It will also help establish the risk profile of individual traveller.

“In the event of a positive case, the system will assist with identifying potentially exposed travellers, who were in proximity to a positive case, further assisting with better contact tracing,” said the department.

The COVID SA travel system can be accessed on this link: https://sa-covid-19-travel.info/.