The tourism and hospitality industry in South Africa has heaved a sigh of relief after the government decided not to impose any crippling restrictions on travel and gatherings, in spite of a highly-transmissible Covid-19 Omicron subvariant being detected in the country.
THE TOURISM and hospitality industry in South Africa has heaved a sigh of relief after the government decided to not impose any crippling restrictions on travel and gatherings – at least not yet – in spite of a highly-transmissible Covid-19 Omicron subvariant being detected in the country.
Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla said the government would not impose any internal restrictions as a result of the emergence of a newly-found Covid-19 subvariant.
The XBB.1.5 subvariant of the globally dominant Omicron variant was first detected in South Africa on December 27 by Stellenbosch University researchers and reported earlier this month.
Phaahla said scientists were producing more genomes to determine if the new coronavirus variant was spreading.
In the meantime, there would be no restrictions on travellers from affected countries, such as China and the US, and no restrictions would be placed on South Africans.
“We have consulted our Ministerial Advisory Committees and also the World Health Organization. In both cases the advice we received was that there was no need to impose any travel restrictions on any country, including the People’s Republic of China, and that we also do not need to re-impose any restrictions internally in our country,” Phaahla said.
“The XBB.1.5 has been detected more in the US, where its prevalence is rated at about 6.8% of the circulating subvariants. While the various subvariants have shown different levels of transmissibility, there has thus far been no marked change in the severity of illness.”
Instead, Phaahla said the government would be taking precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the virus, as vaccination remains the bedrock to protect the population against any subvariant.
This includes encouraging increased testing on people who experience known Covid-19 symptoms, advising health-care practitioners to order antigen or PCR tests for symptomatic persons, increasing surveillance and wastewater testing, and reinvigorating the national Covid-19 vaccination campaign.
The tourism industry was pushed to the brink of collapse after being dealt a blow by various levels of Covid-19 restrictions during the more than 24 months of the National State of Disaster.
The Federated Hospitality Association of South Africa (Fedhasa), which has been closely following the news reports globally concerning the new Omicron sub-variant XBB.1.5, said it was encouraged that the scientific community have been clear in saying that despite its high transmissibility, there was no need for panic.
Fedhasa national chairperson Rosemary Anderson said this was not the first time a variant or subvariant had been found, nor will it likely be the last.
“We are fortunate in South Africa to have world-class scientists and the benefit of a population which has achieved high population immunity. That does not mean we should be complacent, however, and we caution against any new regulations which would restrict travel and hospitality that are not firmly based on science,” Anderson said.
“The hospitality sector continues to employ stringent health and hygiene practices, as we always have, to ensure the safety and comfort of our guests. That will not change. As far as we are concerned, it is very much business as usual.”
– BUSINESS REPORT
