December 02 2021 - 13:00
Canadian airports warn of 'chaos' amid new Covid-19 testing rules
Canada's plan to require novel coronavirus tests for all but US arrivals on international flights risks causing "chaos" and long lines if all passengers are expected to get tested at airports, industry groups said.
The move, announced Tuesday, comes as the travel season kicks into gear and could stretch airport resources as well as testing holiday-makers' patience, they said.
Daniel Gooch, president of the Canadian Airports Council, said airports cannot test all overseas arrivals on-site without long wait times.
"Do we really want people waiting for hours for a test in a customs hall?" he asked by phone on Wednesday."We want to avoid chaos. And we want to ensure that travellers who have booked trips are comfortable to travel."
Canada on Tuesday said it will require people arriving internationally by air, except from the United States, to take a Covid-19 test, seeking to halt the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant.
Currently, only randomly selected passengers from international flights are tested at airports by private companies the government contracts.
The announcement came as the country's aviation sector, battered by the pandemic, had been looking forward to a stronger holiday season this year.
Canadian public health authorities did not say Wednesday when the policy will come into effect, who will administer the tests or whether the tests will be administered on-site or through take-home kits.
Airports are pushing for the latter.
Tori Gass, a spokesperson for Toronto's Pearson International Airport - Canada's largest - said in an email that "a combination of onsite and off-airport testing must be considered to accommodate the volume of tests contemplated.
"Some travellers, meanwhile, who had rushed to book trips amid loosening restrictions just weeks before, were having second thoughts."
I know various clients who have decided to cancel and are now looking at what refunds they'll be able to get," said Marty Firestone with Travel Secure insurance, adding that the travel landscape had been getting better.
"Now we've taken two steps back," he said.
Reuters
COVID-19 WRAP | SA records more than 11,500 Covid-19 cases
December 02 2021 - 21:20
Omicron appears to evade immunity from prior Covid-19 infection, data shows
The Omicron variant appears to be able to evade immunity from prior Covid-19 infection, new data has suggested.
The South African Centre for Epidemiological Modelling and Analysis (SACEMA) and the National Centre for Communicable Diseases (NICD) released the data on Thursday night.
It also shows that there was a “three-fold increase in risk for reinfection” due to Omicron compared to previous variants.
December 02 2021 - 19:26
More than 11,500 Covid-19 cases recorded in 24 hours as infections continue to spike
SA recorded 11,535 new Covid-19 infections in the past 24 hours, as the numbers of confirmed cases continue to spike across the country.
The new infections also come at a worrying positivity rate of 22.4%.
Figures from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) show that there were 8,561 new cases recorded on Wednesday, nearly 3,000 fewer than on Thursday.
December 02 2021 - 16:20
Fast-spreading Omicron leaves Delta in its wake in Gauteng
The Omicron coronavirus variant is spreading faster than the Delta strain or any of the earlier mutations in Gauteng, an adviser to the provincial government said.
“This is the strongest acceleration in community transmission ever seen in South Africa,” Bruce Mellado, an adviser to the provincial government said in a presentation on Thursday.
He said it was a similar situation to the third wave when the Delta variant quickly became dominant.
December 02 2021 - 15:22
Concern about millions of unvaccinated people in Gauteng
Gauteng premier David Makhura has expressed concern that about 8-million people in the province have not yet been vaccinated against Covid-19.
More than 4-million people have been vaccinated, while Stats SA figures show the province has a population of more than 15-million people.
“Unvaccinated people are a problem for all of us, so finding them and vaccinating will be the right thing to do,” Makhura said on Thursday in an update on the government's response a day after the province recorded more than 6,000 new infections.
December 02 2021 - 15:08
Covid-19 ‘fake news’ man walks free as magistrate slams prosecution
A Cape Town man arrested at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic last year for allegedly spreading fake news is off the hook after the state was told on Thursday to “get its house in order”.
The Cape Town magistrate's court struck the case from the roll after the state asked for a postponement as Stephen Birch was set to plead to the charges against him and start his trial.
The prosecutor told the court the state's witness had tested positive for Covid-19 and was not available.
December 02 2021 - 14:37
Deputy health minister says the unvaccinated should not be allowed to expose vaccinated groups to Covid-19
Deputy health minister Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo says the rights of individuals not to get vaccinated for Covid-19 will be trumped by the rights of a collective who choose vaccination.
Dhlomo was responding to questions from MPs during a media briefing about the Omicron variant on Wednesday.
This comes after President Cyril Ramaphosa's national address on Sunday in which he said the government was engaging stakeholders on introducing mandatory vaccinations for access to workplaces and public events.
December 02 2021 - 13:30
Singapore reports 2 Omicron variant cases
Singapore on Thursday detected two imported cases of the Covid-19 Omicron variant, both of whom have been isolated, its health ministry said.
Contact tracing was ongoing for passengers on the same flight as those infected, and there was no evidence of community transmission, it said in a statement.
Reuters
December 02 2021 - 13:12
Gauteng sees rapid rise in Covid-19 infections, younger people hospitalised
Gauteng is seeing a rapid increase in Covid-19 infections but there have been fewer hospitalisations and deaths, Dr Mary Kawanga of the premier’s advisory committee on Covid-19 said on Thursday.
Kawanga was giving an update on the provincial response to the rising number of infections.
“Early indications from trends in the Gauteng data signal that the Covid-19 vaccines are doing what they were designed to do, protect vaccinated people against hospitalisation and death,” Kawanga said.
December 02 2021 - 13:00
Canadian airports warn of 'chaos' amid new Covid-19 testing rules
Canada's plan to require novel coronavirus tests for all but US arrivals on international flights risks causing "chaos" and long lines if all passengers are expected to get tested at airports, industry groups said.
The move, announced Tuesday, comes as the travel season kicks into gear and could stretch airport resources as well as testing holiday-makers' patience, they said.
Daniel Gooch, president of the Canadian Airports Council, said airports cannot test all overseas arrivals on-site without long wait times.
"Do we really want people waiting for hours for a test in a customs hall?" he asked by phone on Wednesday."We want to avoid chaos. And we want to ensure that travellers who have booked trips are comfortable to travel."
Canada on Tuesday said it will require people arriving internationally by air, except from the United States, to take a Covid-19 test, seeking to halt the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant.
Currently, only randomly selected passengers from international flights are tested at airports by private companies the government contracts.
The announcement came as the country's aviation sector, battered by the pandemic, had been looking forward to a stronger holiday season this year.
Canadian public health authorities did not say Wednesday when the policy will come into effect, who will administer the tests or whether the tests will be administered on-site or through take-home kits.
Airports are pushing for the latter.
Tori Gass, a spokesperson for Toronto's Pearson International Airport - Canada's largest - said in an email that "a combination of onsite and off-airport testing must be considered to accommodate the volume of tests contemplated.
"Some travellers, meanwhile, who had rushed to book trips amid loosening restrictions just weeks before, were having second thoughts."
I know various clients who have decided to cancel and are now looking at what refunds they'll be able to get," said Marty Firestone with Travel Secure insurance, adding that the travel landscape had been getting better.
"Now we've taken two steps back," he said.
Reuters
December 02 2021 - 11:43
First case of Omicron variant case found in mainland France
France on Thursday reported its first case of the new Omicron coronavirus variant near Paris as the government's top scientific adviser said it could become dominant in the country by the end of January.
The health body for the Ile de France region of greater Paris said in a statement an Omicron case had been found in a person who returned from Nigeria. This followed a case found in the French Indian Ocean island of La Reunion last month.
Jean-Francois Delfraissy told BFM television the "true enemy" for now was still Delta, spreading in a fifth wave.
"We should see a progressive rise of the Omicron variant, which will take over from Delta," possibly by the end of January, he said.
He said it should be possible to have a good Christmas if steps are taken to curb the Delta strain.
"Christmas is not at risk if the population and decision-makers are all very cautious," he said, reiterating that social distancing and a third, booster shot of vaccines were key weapons.
France recorded nearly 50,000 new conformed Covid-19 cases over 24 hours, the Health Ministry said on Wednesday.
There were 1,886 people in intensive care units with Covid-19 on Wednesday, a level Delfraissy said was not yet a peak, particularly when compared to 6,000-7000 at the height of the second wave in France last autumn.
Reuters
December 02 2021 - 11:14
Covid-19 quarantine ends for most SA passengers — Dutch authorities
Dutch health authorities said that more than 20 passengers who have been in quarantine since testing positive for Covid-19 after flying from SA on November 26 will be allowed to leave on Thursday.
A spokesperson for the health authority for Kennemerland, in which Schiphol airport is situated, said authorities will not disclose whether any of the 14 passengers found to be infected with the Omicron variant of the virus are being released, citing privacy reasons.
December 02 2021 - 10:30
US CDC to collect data on southern Africa passengers over Covid-19 variant
US officials ordered airlines to disclose passenger names and other information about those who have recently been in eight southern African countries and will give it to local and state public health agencies, according to documents seen by Reuters.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) told airlines in a letter late Tuesday that they must turn over names and contact information for any travelers who within 14 days have been to Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe, citing "the emergence of the Omicron variant of the virus that causes Covid-19".
December 02 2021 - 10:00
French government science adviser: Covid Delta variant is main fight right now, looking to avoid lockdowns
The French government's top scientific adviser Jean-Francois Delfraissy said France was in the midst of the Delta variant of the coronavirus epidemic but cautioned the new Omicron variant would progressively take over.
"The true enemy is the fifth wave with the Delta variant... We should see a progressive rise of the Omicron variant who will take over from Delta," Delfraissy told BFM television, who also reaffirmed authorities were doing all they could to avoid any new lockdowns.
France recorded nearly 50,000 new conformed Covid-19 cases over 24 hours, the Health Ministry said on Wednesday.
Reuters
December 02 2021 - 09:57
KZN premier in self-isolation after contact with Covid-19 positive person
KwaZulu-Natal premier Sihle Zikalala has gone into self-isolation after coming into contact with a person who tested positive for Covid-19.
The premier’s office said in a statement on Thursday that Zikalala has not presented with any symptoms and “is well”.
“The premier will carry on working from home, under strict adherence to all Covid-19 protocols. The work will include co-ordinating meetings aimed at leading the provincial government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
December 02 2021 - 09:53
First known UAE case of Omicron variant detected in fully vaccinated traveller
The United Arab Emirates announced on Wednesday its first known case of the new Covid-19 variant Omicron, state news agency WAM reported.
The variant was detected in an African woman who had travelled from an African country and transited through an Arab country, WAM said. The woman had received both doses of the Covid-19 vaccine.
Public health authorities have placed her in isolation, as well as those who were in contact with her, WAM reported.
December 02 2021 - 07:09
Are Omicron variant symptoms more severe?
Covid-19 symptoms linked to the new Omicron variant are “extremely mild”.
This is according to Dr Angelique Coetzee, who is chairperson of the SA Medical Association (SAMA) and was among those who first raised the alarm over the new strain.
The variant was first detected last week in SA using samples taken between November 14 and 16.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) classified it as a variant “of concern” late last week and gave it the name Omicron.
December 02 2021 - 06:20
'Going backwards again': Omicron hits South African tourism
South African festival halted after 36 test positive for Covid-19 on site.
December 02 2021 - 06:15
'Unfair' to pin Omicron on Botswana, says health director
Botswana's Acting Director of Health Pamela Smith-Lawrence said that it was ‘unfair’ to treat the country as ground zero of the Omicron coronavirus variant after 19 cases were detected, and that the finger-pointing was ‘unnecessary at this time.’
December 02 2021 - 06:10
It will no longer be each country for itself, says WHO
Member states of the World Health Organisation (WHO) have agreed to start drafting a global agreement to prevent and tackle the next global pandemic.
At a briefing on Thursday, the director-general of the organisation, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, described it as a “momentous day” and said “the significance of this decision cannot be overstated”.
He likened it to other such global agreements that have been made regarding tobacco control, nuclear and biological weapons, and climate change.
December 02 2021 - 06:05
First known US Omicron case detected in California
The United States identified its first known case of Omicron, discovered in a fully vaccinated patient who traveled to South Africa
December 02 2021 - 06:05
Investors flee Wall Street as Omicron reaches US
Wall Street’s major indexes fell more than 1% on Wednesday. A morning rally faded after the first U.S. identified its first known Covid case caused by the Omicron variant
December 02 2021 - 06:00
JONATHAN JANSEN | Travel bans against SA are about racism and nothing else
If you had any lingering doubts about the unbroken link between racism and disease, then events of the past week should have opened your eyes. No sooner had South African scientists announced the discovery of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant on November 24, but the West reacted with a fierceness that would have embarrassed its colonial progenitors, from Rudyard Kipling (The White Man’s Burden) and Joseph Conrad (Heart of Darkness) to the streams of imperial missionaries and scientists sent to save and civilise the Dark Continent.
Instantly, flights from SA to the UK and, soon after, the US, were banned. This despite the variant also being found in Belgium and Hong Kong, and that little was known at the time about “the South African variant”, as some idiots on overseas television parroted their politicians.
“South African countries”, said another geographic illiterate on NBC news in reference to the shutting off and shutting out of countries in the region. In a BBC clip that went viral, an angry Dr Ayoade Alakija, the co-chair of the AU’s Vaccine Delivery Alliance, put her expert finger on the problem: “The travel bans are based in politics and not in science ... nobody is locking away Belgium, nobody is locking Israel, why are we locking away Africa when the virus is already on three continents?” Good question; here’s the answer.