SA and 10 other African countries have been removed from the British government’s Covid-19 red list after it was slammed as “travel apartheid” by a number of leaders.
UK health secretary Sajid Javid made the announcement on Tuesday, saying community transmission of the Omicron variant in the UK means “the travel red list is now less effective in slowing the incursion of Omicron from abroad”.
Business and the government in SA cautiously welcomed the announcement. International relations and co-operation spokesperson Clayson Monyela said red-listing SA and the other countries “was an unjustified and unscientific decision to start with” and it went against the advice of the World Health Organization and the UN as well as scientists.
“The impact of the ban has been devastating on two-way business, the travel and tourism industry as well as on families,” he said.
Health minister Joe Phaahla was caught by surprise by the announcement and was getting his booster vaccine shot when Javid tried to call him to inform him. “It is news to me,” he said.
Tourism minister Lindiwe Sisulu said the red list requirement of a mandatory 10-day hotel quarantine on return to the UK was a huge deterrent for Britons who were considering travelling to SA, but the country is hoping to welcome British travellers again soon.
“The UK announcement has come just in time to allow families and friends to unite over the festive season,” she said.
According to a survey by SATSA, a tourism body that represents 1,300 companies, at least R940m in bookings in SA was lost in the first 48 hours after it was placed on the UK’s red list at the end of last month, shortly after announcing the detection of the Omicron variant here, CEO David Frost said.
He said though the damage to the industry has been immense, he hopes that some of the business will be clawed back during the international tourism high season in January to April. “We want to go back into the market and give consumers the confidence that SA is a cost-effective, viable and safe destination, with health protocols in place,” he said.
Tourism Business Council of SA CEO Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa said the UK will need to start rebuilding trust with the countries in which its travel policy has caused anger and resentment. “You are as likely to catch Omicron in Coventry as you are in Cape Town, and the scientific evidence is clear that for most people, this variant results in a mild disease,” he said.
Travel into Britain will no longer be restricted to citizens and residents. But all travellers are still required to take either a PCR or rapid lateral flow test a maximum of 48 hours before departure.
The UK high commission in Pretoria tweeted that the new rules apply to arrivals in England. “We’re expecting a high demand for visa services,” it said, but warned of possible delays.
British high commissioner to SA Antony John Phillipson said in a statement on Tuesday: “We took this necessary precautionary action to give us time to understand the challenge we and others faced, and to slow down the spread of Omicron while scientists urgently assessed what impact the variant has on vaccines, treatments and transmissibility.
“That included important work between our scientists, and we thank those here in SA for their expertise and transparency.”
The other countries that will be removed from the red list are Angola, Botswana, eSwatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Britain will remove all 11 countries from its Covid-19 travel red list from Wednesday because there is community transmission of Omicron, UK health secretary Sajid Javid told parliament.
The British government added the Southern African countries to its red list in late November, meaning entry was only allowed to UK citizens or residents who must quarantine in a hotel in a bid to slow the spread of the Omicron variant.
“Now that there is community transmission of Omicron in the UK and Omicron has spread so widely across the world, the travel red list is less effective in slowing the incursion of Omicron from abroad,” Javid said.
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