“Absolute chaos” flights over South Africa over Omicron Coronavirus pandemic News

Johannesburg, South Africa – Unbelief and confusion The prediction of the discovery of the Omicron COVID-19 variant, which transcended South Africa, put flights off the ground and sparked fears of a severe blockade in Africa’s most developed economy.

Flights from the country to the United States, the United Kingdom and European nations were quickly banned after South African scientists officially announced the discovery of the strain of the virus on Thursday.

“This is utter chaos. No one can tell us what is possible at the moment in terms of travel, ”said Steve Lawrence, a passenger at OR Tambo, one of Africa’s busiest airports.

“Things change by the minute and we are left in shock. We planned to stay in the United States in December, and now we’re stuck. “

Daily coronavirus infections have risen 13 times since early November with 3,220 new cases on Saturday. The total number of deaths has been 89,791 since the pandemic began in South Africa.

About 600 passengers on two flights of KLM from Johannesburg to Amsterdam were stopped on the runway at Schiphol Airport after panic after the announcement.

“It’s naive to believe that they can stop for developed countries the spread of this variant With a complete ban on countries in southern Africa. The virus has already found its way out of people who have not traveled or come into contact with anyone in southern Africa in these societies, ”South African vaccinator Shabir Madhi told Al Jazeera.

“Being found here doesn’t make it a South African variant; it’s just found here. In South Africa we have one of COVID’s best sequencing capabilities based on experience in treating HIV and TV. We’ve been ahead of the game for a long time and so we’re a victim of our success.”

The sudden landing of flights has scared the tourism industry, exacerbating the cancellation of bookings directly after the announcement.

“I’m absolutely amazed. When we woke up on Friday morning, everything was fine; we have now been banned within 48 hours and we are suffering multiple cancellations, ”Manuela Pallamer, owner of the Mziki Safari lodge in the North West province, told Al Jazeera.

South African tourism sector lost It is expected to lose $ 10 billion in reserves in 2020 as a result of the decline in foreign visitors, and will lose about $ 10 million a week in flights from major foreign tourism markets.

“We have a good local tourist market, but if we cancel all our foreign tourists, we will be really devastated,” Pallamer added.

‘Horrible repetition’

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

“This sounds like a horrible replay of a terrific movie,” Franck Leyak of Honest Travel Experience told Al Jazeera.

“This industry was just starting to get out of this crisis and two years later we still don’t have a solution to this virus and it’s affecting us again.”

The ban on lifting the ban began angrily after the announcement of flight restrictions was condemned by the South African government and the private sector as being “punished for telling the truth”.

The federation of the South African Hospitality Association (FEDHASA) said it was working with the South African government to lift the bans or sue them in court.

“We’re not going to lie down and let it happen to us,” FEDHASA President Rosemary Anderson told Al Jazeera.

“As an industry we will work with the government and other industry organizations to legally challenge this. We believe we will be able to speak scientifically to show the UK and other countries that this does not make sense and is not right.”

The South African government said travel bans in the country were “misdirected” because the World Health Organization (WHO) also called for calm.

“New variants have been detected in other countries. Each of these cases has had no final connection with South Africa, ”Health Minister Joe Phaahla said at a news conference on Friday.

“We feel that some of the leaders in the countries are finding goats to deal with what is the problem around the world.”

South Africa is now ready for stricter restrictions on local COVID, which President Cyril Ramaphosa will address to the nation on Sunday evening after meeting with the country’s coronavirus board.

South Africa had previously imposed one of the most stringent blockades in the world, imposing a total ban on the sale of alcohol and cigarettes and restricting travel between provinces.

Only 23.8% of the South African population has been fully vaccinated, and the average for the rest of the continent is only 7%.

“If the government wants bigger cuts, it deliberately ignores their effects; the blockades have not prevented infections. It has only slowed them down,” Madhi said.

“If another is established it will be a political decision, not a scientific one. Any action must be measured and pragmatic, and medical resources must be focused on areas that are under pressure as a result of increased infections. ”