Ramaphosa keeps South Africa on Level 1, slams travel bans as ‘unjustified and not informed by science’

President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Sunday that South Africa will remain at Alert Level 1, at least for the next week, after the country experienced a sharp and sudden increase in positive coronavirus cases, mostly in Gauteng. 

However, he warned that harsher restrictions would have to be implemented if South Africans failed to increase the vaccination rate. 

Last week, Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla said the vaccination rate had fallen to below 130,000 a day – a far cry from the goal of 300,000 a day set by the president. 

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In his address to the nation, Ramaphosa sharply criticised countries that instituted travel restrictions on a number of southern African countries after scientists identified the Omicron variant of the virus in samples from Gauteng. 

“The emergence of the Omicron variant should be a wake-up call to the world that vaccine inequality cannot be allowed to continue,” he said. 

Between Saturday and Sunday, another 3,220 positive cases of coronavirus infections were identified in SA, with Gauteng, which appears to be at the centre of the new outbreak, having 10,542 active cases. KwaZulu-Natal has seen the second-sharpest increase countrywide and has 4,609 active cases. 

“We have seen an average of 1,600 new cases in the last seven days, compared to just 500 new daily cases in the previous week, and 275 new daily cases the week before that. The proportion of Covid-19 tests that are positive has risen from around 2% to 9% in less than a week. This is an extremely sharp rise in infections in a short space of time. 

“If cases continue to climb, we can expect to enter a fourth wave of infections within the next few weeks, if not sooner. This should not come as a surprise. Epidemiologists and disease modellers have told us that we should expect a fourth wave in early December. Scientists have also told us to expect the emergence of new variants,” Ramaphosa said. 

He added that there were several concerns about the Omicron variant, and still some uncertainty about how it will behave going forward. 

He said that following a meeting of the National Coronavirus Command Council a decision was taken to keep the country at Alert Level 1 with the National State of Disaster remaining in place.  

“In taking the decision not to impose further restrictions at this stage, we considered the fact that when we encountered previous waves of infection, vaccines were not widely available and far fewer people were vaccinated.

“That is no longer the case. Vaccines are available to anyone aged 12 and above, free of charge, at thousands of sites across the country. We know that they prevent severe disease and hospitalisation. We also know that the coronavirus will be with us for the long term. 

“We must therefore find ways of managing the pandemic while limiting disruptions to the economy and ensuring continuity. However, this approach will not be sustainable if we do not increase the vaccination rate, if we do not wear masks, or if we fail to adhere to basic health precautions,” he warned. 

Since first being described in Botswana and subsequently in South Africa, cases of the Omicron variant were also identified in Hong Kong, Australia, Belgium, Italy, the UK, Germany, Austria, Denmark and Israel over the weekend.  

“The early identification of this variant is a result of the excellent work done by our scientists in South Africa and is a direct result of the investment that our Science and Innovation and Health departments have made in our genomic surveillance capabilities. 

“We are one of the countries in the world that set up a surveillance network throughout the country to help us monitor the behaviour of Covid-19. The early detection of this variant and the work that has already gone into understanding its properties and possible effects means that we are better equipped to respond to the variant. 

“We pay tribute to all our scientists who are world-renowned and widely respected and have demonstrated that they have a deep knowledge of epidemiology,” Ramaphosa said.  

Over the next few days and weeks, Ramaphosa said, he expected there will be more information on how contagious the variant is, what the risk of reinfection is, whether the variant causes more severe disease, and, how effective the current vaccines are against it 

Ramaphosa said wearing masks, avoiding large gatherings, washing hands and personal distancing were still necessary to protect against Omicron, but that the most “powerful tool” was still vaccination. 

In the most definitive indication yet by his government of a possible move towards mandatory vaccines for South Africa, Ramaphosa said there had been engagements with social partners and other stakeholders on introducing measures that make vaccination a condition for access to workplaces, public events, public transport and public establishments.  

“This includes discussions that have been taking place at Nedlac between government, labour, business and the community constituency, where there is broad agreement on the need for such measures. 

“Government has set up a task team that will undertake broad consultations on making vaccination mandatory for specific activities and locations.  

“We realise that the introduction of such measures is a difficult and complex issue, but if we do not address this seriously and as a matter of urgency, we will continue to be vulnerable to new variants and will continue to suffer new waves of infection. 

“Since the first Covid-19 vaccines became available late last year, we have seen how vaccines have dramatically reduced severe illness, hospitalisation and death in South Africa and across the world. Vaccines do work. Vaccines are saving lives.”  

We call upon all those countries that have imposed travel bans on our country and our southern African sister countries to urgently reverse their decisions and lift the ban they have imposed before any further damage is done to our economies and to the livelihoods of our people. There is no scientific justification for keeping these restrictions in place.