‘Absolute chaos’ in South Africa if planes land at Omicron | Coronavirus Plague News

Johannesburg, South Africa – Uncertainty and confusion spread throughout South Africa as the announcement of the availability of Omicron COVID-19 aircraft separated from the aircraft and sparked fears that the economic collapse in Africa was highly developed.

Flights from the country to the United States, the United Kingdom, and European countries were promptly banned by South African scientists after announcing the discovery of the virus on Thursday.

“This is a real mess. No one can tell us what is going on in the meantime, “said Steve Lawrence, a traveler traveling to OR Tambo, one of Africa’s busiest airports.

“Things are changing for the next minute and we’re in a lot of trouble. We planned to stay in the United States in December – and now we can’t. ”

Daily coronavirus infections have risen to 13 since early November when 3,220 cases were reported Saturday. The number of deaths in South Africa has risen to 89,791 since the outbreak began.

About 600 people aboard two KLM flights from Johannesburg to Amsterdam went missing on the road to Schiphol airport due to fears following the announcement.

“It is a lie that developed countries believe they can quit the spread of these differences and a total ban on southern African countries. The virus has already spread to groups of people who have never been to or met anyone from southern Africa, “Shabir Madhi, a South African vaccine specialist, told Al Jazeera.

“The findings here do not make the South African nation – they just happened here. In South Africa we have one of the best in the world following COVID based on our experience in treating HIV and TB. We have been at the forefront of the game for a while and we are suffering for our success.”

The sudden cancellation of flights has disrupted tourist activities and curtailed reservations that are increasingly increasing this announcement.

“I am completely taken aback. When we woke up on Friday morning everything was fine – now within 48 hours we were banned and we were repeatedly interrupted, “Manuela Pallamer, owner of Music Safari lodge in the North West region, told Al Jazeera.

South African tourism sector lost at $ 10bn in reservation in 2020 due to a shortage of foreign tourists, and is said to have lost about $ 10m a week flights are suspended at major tourist markets.

“We have a good travel market but if all our foreign tourists leave we will be disappointed,” added Pallamer.

‘Dangerous repetition’

South Africa’s tourism sector is one of the largest employers in the country, providing 4.5 percent of the population and adding 3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) each year.

“This looks like a bad repetition of a bad movie,” Franck Leya from Honest Travel Experience told Al Jazeera.

“These companies had just started to emerge from the crisis and after two years we have no solution and they are also affecting us.”

The pressure to lift the ban began in earnest after the South African government and civil society organizations complained that they were being “punished for telling the truth”.

The Federated Hospitality Association of Southern Africa (FEDHASA) is working with the South African government to lift the ban or challenge it in court.

“We will not lie down and just let it happen to us,” Rosemary Anderson, chairman of FEDHASA, told Al Jazeera.

“As a company we will work with government and other corporate organizations to legitimize this. We hope we will be able to speak scientifically to show the UK and other countries that this is absurd and unreasonable. ”

The South African government says travel restrictions have been “disrupted” as the World Health Organization (WHO) has called for calm.

“New developments have been made in other countries. Each of these cases has not had a recent relationship with southern Africa,” Health Minister Joe Phaahla told reporters on Friday.

“We see that some of the world’s leaders are finding solutions to the global problem.”

South Africa now wants to lift the COVID-19 ban, with President Cyril Ramaphosa addressing the country on Sunday evening after meeting with the country’s coronavirus.

South Africa has in the past established one of the world’s most powerful brokers, forcing a ban on the sale of alcohol and cigarettes and the banning of moderate travel.

Only 23.8 percent of South Africans received adequate immunizations while the average across the continent is only 7 percent.

“If the government wants more sanctions it is deliberately ignoring the consequences – the closure did not prevent the disease. It has only delayed them,” Madhi said.

“If something is established it will be a political decision and not a scientific one. Everything must be evaluated and implemented and look at areas where medical care is affected by the prevalence of the disease.”