Covid19: Lindiwe Sisulu Believes SA Is Being Unfairly Punished for Omicron Detection, Tourism Sector Suffering

• Lindiwe Sisulu, the Minister of Tourism, believes that South Africa is being unfairly punished for finding the new Omicron variant
• Sisulu said that the travel bans which other countries placed on South Africa have given the country a negative reputation globally
• However, Sisulu is hopeful that South Africa's tourism sector will recover as more countries lft the travel restrictions

DUBAI - Lindiwe Sisulu, the Minister of Tourism, recently travelled to Dubai to participate in the UAE World EXPO 2020. There she expressed that she believes that South Africa is being unfairly punished due to South African scientists discovering the new Omicron variant of Covid-19.

Sisulu said that this discovery, which South Africa shared with the world, made other countries wary. The resulting travel bans have caused South African tourism to suffer over the festive period, which is a time when South Africa's economy relies on revenue from the sector.

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According to News24, Sisulu said at the conference that the travel bans which many countries placed on South Africa after the Omicron variant was announced gave the country a bad reputation, which will take hard work to reverse.

Sisulu's hopes for the future of South African tourism

Despite her statement about South Africa's reputation suffering damage, Sisulu expressed that she is hopeful that the country's tourism sector will recover as more countries are lifting travel restrictions, TimesLIVE reports.

The minister said that she expects that as more countries lift their travel restrictions, tourists from these countries will start travelling to South Africa again, thereby recovering the financial losses incurred from the travel bans.

Sisulu also committed on behalf of the government to assist those in the tourism sector who have sustained financial losses due to the current situation. So far Germany and the United Kingdom have removed travel restrictions previously placed on South Africa.

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South Africans react to Sisulu's statement

@Af_Ra_Kan believes:

"This is what happens when your leaders lack vision and failed to promote local tourism. There are nations that do not rely on 'international tourism' to survive."

@Annette00711812 remarked:

"Blame everyone BUT the ANC."

@Carsfamm said:

"True, but maybe you must also start to talk about how your party is currently damaging our brand!"

@Remo7068 shared:

"We have the wrong government. That's the main problem."

@koena_lebohang believes:

"She’s so correct. Suddenly this virus is from Africa."

Omicron is milder than other variants, SA scientists weigh in on the current status of Covid 19

Speaking of the Omicron variant, Briefly News previously reported that a South African study has shown that Omicron is less severe than the Delta variant. The study says that people who have the new variant are 80% less likely to require hospitalisation.

Professor Cheryl Cohen, a co-author of the study and the National Institute for Communicable Diseases' (NICD) respiratory disease unit's leader, said that those who have been hospitalised as a result of Omicron generally have milder symptoms.

Cohen said that due to the majority of previous Covid-19 infections not having a variant type attached, it is challenging for the NICD scientists to know if protection was offered from antibodies or vaccination.

Source: Briefly News