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South Africa says UK flight ban over COVID-19 variant seems rushed -Breaking

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© Reuters. One traveller was tested for coronavirus in a COVID-19 lockdown at the Grasmere Plaza, Lenasia (South Africa), January 14, 2021. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko

JOHANNESBURG, (Reuters) – South Africa announced Friday that the British had placed a ban on six African countries from flying to Britain because it detected a new COVID-19 variant. This seemed hurried considering the World Health Organization (WHO), was still waiting for advice on next steps.

While scientists have not yet detected B.1.1.529 in large numbers in South Africa Botswana and Hong Kong, it has been identified in some instances in Botswana and Hong Kong. However, it is being suspected that it could be more transmissible due to its many mutations.

After temporarily suspending flights to South Africa, Botswana and Lesotho from Friday afternoon, Britain declared that the variant it was the most important.

On Friday the rand plunged by more than 1% against dollar as investors were cautious about the currency variant. Tsogo Sun Hotels (Hospitality Stocks) and City Lodge Hotels (Hospitality Stocks) plunged on Johannesburg Stock Exchange. South Africa is a popular destination for British travelers.

In a statement, Naledi Pandor, South Africa’s Foreign Minister said that “our immediate concern is how this decision will affect both the tourist industries and business of both countries.”

SATSA, a Southern African Tourism Association said that the British Travel Restrictions had penalized countries such as South Africa for advanced DNA sequencing capabilities.

According to the foreign ministry, South Africa will contact British officials to ask them to reconsider their previous decision.

Singapore announced that it will also limit South African arrivals to South Africa, and neighbouring countries in an effort to prevent the variant. India sent an advisory to all countries asking them to screen and rigorously test international travelers from South Africa.

INFECTIONS RISE

South Africa asked for an urgent meeting of the WHO virus evolution working group Friday, to discuss this variant.

After a terrible third round of infected, the country was experiencing a slowdown in COVID-19 infections. This was until last week, when more infections began to emerge.

The National Institute for Communicable Diseases, (NICD), reported nearly double the daily number of cases that were reported on Thursday. Leading local scientists believe that the resurgence is linked to the B.1.1.529 variation, even though the NICD has not confirmed it.

According to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, travel bans for countries reporting this variant are strongly discouraged.

We have seen that banning travellers from certain countries in which a new variant has been reported is not a useful strategy. It stated that it was more important to implement public health and social policies.

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