Coronavirus in SA: No travel bans yet, as government looks at economic impact
13 March 2020
Government has not decided to put any travel restrictions and bans in place, just yet.
This comes as the number of people testing positive for the coronavirus (Covid-19) in South Africa continues to rise. According to Tourism Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane, various aspects are being looked at before Cabinet can make an informed decision.
Kubayi-Ngubane spoke during an inter-ministerial briefing at Protea Hotel's The Ranch Resort in Polokwane on Thursday night, outlining developments regarding the virus which first broke out in Wuhan, China, in December 2019.
The resort, which is situated just 25km from the Limpopo city of Polokwane, is where just over 120 South Africans being repatriated from Wuhan will be quarantined for 21 days.
Among those involved in the state of readiness briefing were Limpopo Premier Stan Mathabatha, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize, Minister of Police Bheki Cele, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, and Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi.
Although no decision has been made on travel restrictions – despite other countries, including the US, putting bans in place – the minister said South Africa will, however, issue warnings and guidelines in the meantime.
She said the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) is also working on travel advisory notices to advise people, both coming in and going out of the country, to be cautious and how to go about planning their trips.
"There are lessons we are learning from other countries. For example, you put a travel ban for a particular country, and people use another country to enter. It becomes an issue that you are not able to manage, and so we continue to monitor," the minister said.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations World Tourism Organisation have also issued guidelines on any trips around the world, Kubayi-Ngubane said.
Cabinet has also already started discussions about the possible impact of the virus on the economy.
Kubayi-Ngubane said the Cabinet had already tasked her office to look at the aspects that could cause potential harm to the economy and a report would be released soon.
The ministry was also looking at the potential harm on labour and a team led by the Minister of Employment and Labour, Thulas Nxesi, was working on that aspect.
Earlier this month, Mkhize told Parliament's health portfolio committee that, given the fact that South Africa had not had any confirmed cases of the Covid-19 disease at the time, it would not be cancelling any big international events or closing any of its ports of entry.
On 5 March, this changed when the country announced that it had its first positive Covid-19 case.
There are currently 16 people who have tested positive for the virus.
The health department initially said on Thursday that 17 people were affected, but this was later revised after one test came back negative.
