Passengers arriving into the UK on one of the last flights from South Africa have revealed they were not offered tests and left to mix with hundreds of other passengers despite the country being a hotbed of the new super-mutant 'jab-dodging' Botswana Covid variant.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid has announced that flights from South Africa - as well as Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini and Zimbabwe - will be suspended from midday today. They have all been placed on the red list.
But today, passengers arriving from Johannesburg - the capital of the province of Gauteng where the variant was first identified - were subjected to 'no additional precautions', according to one of the people on the flight - one of three arriving at Heathrow before the ban comes into force.
The UK's lax contrasted with the approach in the Netherlands, where a video showed passengers arriving in Amsterdam being told they would not be allowed to leave the plane. They will be tested before being allowed to go home.
Meanwhile, one caller to the Jeremy Vine Show said her daughter was bypassing the ban by travelling back from South Africa via Egypt. 'She's managed to find a flight to Cairo and then from Cairo to Heathrow to get her back tomorrow,' the woman said, before adding: 'She doesn't want to stay in a hotel when she gets back.'
Passengers arriving at Heathrow today after the South Africa flight ban was announced (it is not clear where these particular passengers had travelled from)
Health Secretary Sajid Javid has announced that flights from South Africa - as well as Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini and Zimbabwe - will be suspended from midday today. Pictured: Passengers arriving at Heathrow today (destination not known)
Writer and political commentator Adam Schwarz tweeted: 'A friend arrived in London this morning on one of the last flights from South Africa. Health officials met the plane, but no additional precautions are being taken for the hundreds of passengers.
'The captain read out a statement ''advising'' self-isolation and further tests. But it's at the discretion of passengers and it's not legally enforceable. Passengers then got on the airport shuttle to baggage reclaim, mixing with dozens of other flights. No testing was offered.'
Mr Javid has urged people arriving from red list countries to take PCR tests on day 2 and day 8 – even if they are vaccinated - and isolate at home, along with the rest of their household.
In Cape Town, shocked tourists told how they burst into tears when they were told South Africa had been 'red listed' over the new strain.
When the news was broken to them when they touched down at 8.06am on the British Airways flight BA43 from Heathrow Airport there was extreme anger and upset about the change of rules.
Digital marketer Anna DeMarigny, 64, from Galway, Ireland, had flown into Cape Town for 10 days to say a final goodbye to her terminally ill best friend and was very emotional before she arrived.
She said: 'My daughter Sasha is due to fly to visit me in Ireland on December 13 from San Francisco with her baby son Sebastian who is a one-year-old little baby boy of the pandemic.
'I cannot go into quarantine in a hotel for 10 days when I return and not see her or my grandchild. I just can't. I feel sick. I am going to have to cut short my stay with my friend who is dying.
'I'll have to spend a couple of hours with her only and then tell her I can't spend more time with her and get back to this airport and try to find a way home before my daughter arrives from the USA.
'My daughter works in San Francisco and is bringing her baby to meet his family for the first time so I cannot be in quarantine so I will have to say my short goodbyes to my lovely friend and get home.
'I am very angry but there is absolutely nothing I can do about it. It is not how I would have wanted to say goodbye to my friend. I can't believe all this happened overnight with us all oblivious,' she said.
Father-of-six Tony Haupt, 77, from Oxford, had just touched down to visit 5 of his children who live in Cape Town and was furious when he was told about the red listing and the need to quarantine on return.
Retired Tony said: 'I was supposed to stay here for a week and then get back to England for my daughter's university graduation which is exactly 10 days after I get back to the UK and I just cannot miss that.
'I have to be there for Charlie, 23, when she graduates as it didn't happen last year due to Covid so I will have to make lots of unplanned changes to my travel plans right away and just hope I get back in time.
'You telling me about the red listing and the quarantine and the sheer cost is the first I have heard about it and it sounds to me like a knee jerk reaction and shows once again this Government's incompetence.
'I am bloody furious and after a long day travelling and overnight spent in the air this is just not the news I want to hear on touch down and I am struggling to control my anger to be really honest.
'I have been double jabbed and had my booster and after going through all that and being told I am triple locked as safe I am now told I am going to have to pay a fortune to go into quarantine' he fumed.
Six Southern African countries Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Eswatini, Namibia and South Africa have been added to the UK and much of Europe's red list due to the Covid scare.
A married couple, who refused to be named, were travelling with their two young daughters aged 3 and 5 and were mortified when they heard about South Africa being red listed.
The husband stormed off furious and his wife said: 'Excuse him but it has got to him since we were told as we came through immigration and it has ruined our Christmas holiday.
'We have saved for two years to come out so our daughters can meet family and friends for the first time and this has just shattered our dreams as we can foresee a nightmare ahead.
'If the four of us have to pay to quarantine in a hotel when we go home it will cost us nearly £10,000 to be imprisoned in a hotel which is far more than this holiday is costing us.
'Quite frankly we haven't got the money so we are praying our holiday insurance will pay. We are keeping this from our girls because we don't want to spoil their holiday' she said.
There is huge concern about a new Covid variant which may be far more resistant to the vaccine and may be far more infectious than the variants that have gone before so far.
There are no direct flights to the UK from South Africa until at least 4am on Thursday and anyone arriving after that time will have to quarantine at their own expense on arrival.
It is believed passengers will have to pay £2350 to quarantine in a hotel for 10 days after news broke of the new variant known as B.1.1.529 first identified in a lab in South Africa.
South Africa's Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu expressed disappointment at the ban
She said the decision by the UK and European Union and Japan and Israel took place before the World Health Organisation could advise about the new Covid-19 strain of virus.
The Minister added: 'SA will continue working with policymakers in all the countries to ensure that the best possible interventions are put in place but we hope it's lifted soon.
Sisulu said she will attend the 24thSession of the General Assembly of the World Tourism Organisation in Madrid from next Tuesday in a bid to open SA once again to tourists.
The Federated Hospitality Association of SA said it is hopeful the temporary ban will be lifted swiftly as scientists unpack the extent to which Covid-19 vaccines will be effective against the new variant, named B1.1.529.
National chair person Rosemary Anderson said: 'The UK is our largest inbound international market and last night's news by the British government has caused widespread disbelief and disappointment in our hospitality industry as we enter our peak festive season period'.
She said new variants were discovered all the time, often without making any major impact and was hopeful that advanced scientific capability will find that in this case there is little to worry about.
Anderson added: 'However, that does not mean that this decision by the British government won't have widespread repercussions, not only by dissuading British travellers to visit SA, but also due to the likely spin-off we will see from other key source markets if they take the UK's lead'.
In Cape Town, shocked tourists told how they burst into tears when they were told South Africa had been 'red listed' over the new strain. Pictured is Digital marketer Anna DeMarigny, 64, from Galway (left) and Tony Haupt, 77, from Oxford
SA's tourism and hospitality sector generates 1.5-million direct and indirect jobs and the new travel ban is a severe blow to a country just getting over severe lockdowns.
'There is no question that South Africans need to go out and get vaccinated as a matter of urgency,' Anderson added.
The Association of Southern African Travel Agents said the ban was a 'knee-jerk' reaction by the UK government that put airlines, hotels, travel businesses and travellers in a very difficult situation.
ASATA Chief Executive Officer Otto de Vries said: 'The world will unfortunately need to learn to live with Covid-19 variants for the foreseeable future.
'While we await more clarity, there is currently no scientific evidence that the new variant is more resistant to the vaccine'
The Southern Africa Tourism Services Association said it is too early to tell what the impact of the new variant will be but hopes the temporary ban will be lifted soon.
SATSACEO David Frost said: 'By imposing a blanket red list ban on Southern African countries as a 'precautionary' measure, the UK sends a signal to the world that they don't believe their vaccination programme will effectively deal with the variant, when we have seen that Covid-19 vaccines have performed their role to reduce the severity of hospitalisation and death from the virus'.
Mr Frost said: 'This news is devastating for our tourism industry not just because of the impact on British travellers headed to SA during the peak season but also because of the message it send out to the rest of the world.
'SA cannot consistently be punished for its advanced genomic sequencing abilities' he said.
SA infectious diseases expert Prof Marc Mendelson says there is nothing to indicate at this stage that the protection Covid-19 vaccines offer will change in the face of the latest variant.
South Africa has had 2.95m cases of Covid so far with 89,971 deaths with 114 reported in the last 24 hours along with 2465 new cases and has a successful recovery rate of 96.3%.
Post a Comment