South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday called on countries to reverse the travel restrictions imposed on the country due to the discovery of a new coronavirus variant, reported The BBC.
Rmaphosa confirmed that South Africa will keep its lockdown restrictions unchanged at level 1. He said the government will look to offer booster shots to the elderly, and strengthen rules around vaccinations.
In a televised address on Sunday, President Ramaphosa said that this will include mandatory vaccinations for certain activities.
“Government has set up a task team that will undertake broad consultations on making vaccination mandatory for specific activities and locations,” he said.
The South African president said the task team will report to the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Vaccination chaired by the deputy president, which will give recommendations to Cabinet on a fair and sustainable approach to vaccine mandates.
Ramaphosa warned, however, that the government might reintroduce new restrictions at a later date if there is a further jump in Covid-19 cases. He said the situation and guidelines will be reviewed in a week’s time.
The South African president’s comments came as the highly mutated variant, dubbed Omicron, continues to spread around the world, with new cases identified in Australia, Denmark, and the Netherlands. The UK, EU, and the US are among those who have imposed travel bans.
In related news, the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Sunday urged countries around the world not to impose flight bans on southern African nations due to concerns over the new omicron variant.
Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO’s regional director for Africa, called on countries to follow science and international health regulations in order to avoid using travel restrictions.
She said the travel restrictions may play a role in slightly reducing the spread of Covid-19.
“If restrictions are implemented, they should not be unnecessarily invasive or intrusive, and should be scientifically based, according to the International Health Regulations, which is a legally binding instrument of international law recognized by over 190 nations,” the WHO official said.
