Faizel Patel – 05/10/2020
The deputy-editor for Business Insider South Africa says entire families may be quarantined under South Africa’s new COVID-19 level 1 regulations for foreign travel if a member test positive for the virus.
Philip de Wet was speaking to Radio Islam on Monday about the new rules which are expected to be a “sticking point”.
Last week International Relations Minister Naledi Pandor said government had consulted the World Health Organisation (WHO) before determining which countries were high risk for COVID-19 and will get limited access to South Africa.
Pandor said travellers testing positive for COVID-19 upon arrival in South Africa will be forced to undertake mandatory 10-day quarantine at a state facility at their own cost.
De Wet says the Cooperative Governance Department rules are very clear.
“If a single family member within a group travelling together tests positive for COVID-19, than everyone in that family must be quarantined and the word ‘must’ is written into these rules and that quarantine as at own cost at a government facility.”
De Wet says there is no confirmation that a number of airlines have cancelled flights to South Africa.
“A measure of politics is being played behind the scenes here. They are certainly considering it. A couple of the large airlines have now confirmed that they will be going ahead with flights anyway. So cancellation, if they do happen will be relatively limited. It looks like that you’ll be able to get pretty much anywhere in the world, there will be enough flights leaving South Africa to major hubs that you’ll be able to connect onwards, but your first choice of airline may not necessarily be available.”
De Wet says while, children under two-years-old have been excluded from wearing a mask all other passengers must wear a mask throughout the duration of the flight
Listen to the interview with Philip de Wet
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