Namibian travel industry players have reacted with fury over a decision by a number of countries, including Angola, to disrupt flights from southern African countries, following the discovery of a new Covid-19 variant. 

The newly detected Covid-19 variant B.1.1.529, dubbed Omicron by the World Health Organisation, sent shockwaves around the world, leading to some countries like the United Kingdom, Germany and Angola closing their borders to travellers from South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

The drastic decision to curb travel from the six southern African countries has further crippled the ailing tourism industry.

Thus far, the variant has been detected in South Africa, Botswana, Belgium, Hong Kong and Israel after being reported to the WHO from South Africa on 24 November 2021. 

The UK, Italy and Germany have also reported positive cases of the new variant, while in the Czech Republic, that country’s Prime Minister Andrej Babis announced a woman who visited Namibia and flew back to the country via South Africa and Dubai tested positive for the new variant. 

The epidemiological situation in South Africa has been characterised by three distinct peaks in reported cases, the latest of which was predominantly the Delta variant. 

The WHO stated in recent weeks that infections have increased steeply, coinciding with the detection of the B.1.1.529 variant with the first known confirmed infection from a specimen collected on 9 November 2021. The CEO of the Hospital Association of Namibia (HAN), Gritta Paetzold, told New Era yesterday the news of the variant is an assassination on tourism in southern Africa, considering that the sector was already crippling and trying to keep its head above the water.

She added it was unfair for countries to impose travel bans.

“The variant was detected in Belgium and Hong Kong but no one is closing their borders to those countries, but they are fast to target countries like Namibia, where nothing has been detected. They are very fast to close off to African states, which is unfair,” she said.

She said the steps taken by the international community to shut out southern African countries were not justified. 

“With the vaccination rate that we have, we need to step up our game and have people vaccinated. That’s what the focus for Namibia should be right now,” she shared.

 “These past days were filled with anxiety shock and desperation. There is this fear of people travelling to such countries and some are cancelling bookings; those who are in the country are nervous.”

In a statement on Friday, the Namibia Travel and Tourism Forum also denounced the new classification of the country, especially by the UK. “There is a total of seven cruise liners scheduled to dock until the 31st of December, bringing in over 10 000 tourists. All of those trips are now in jeopardy because of a knee-jerk reaction,” the forum said.

“Apart from that, thousands of additional travellers risk having to cancel their holidays at the last minute, which directly impacts the 100 000 Namibians who depend on the tourism industry’s revival. There are also numerous tourists from the UK and elsewhere in Europe who are currently travelling in southern Africa, and whose travel plans will be impacted by the sudden change in regulations. The EU and UK are the main source markets for the Namibian tourism industry, and they appeal to the decision-makers and authorities to look at the numbers and the reality on the ground. The ripple effect of this decision will be felt far and wide, with others possibly deciding to follow this impulsive lead and restrict travel to the region. We hope that the decision will be reconsidered with the broader implications in mind, and the countries can work together to find better travel solutions to benefit the global tourism industry and its revival.”

‘Politics not science’

These sentiments were concurred by Ayoade Alakija of the African Vaccine Delivery Alliance, who spoke to the BBC on Friday, saying the travel bans are based on politics and not science – which is wrong. “We know this would come here; we knew this would bring us to a variant and more dangerous variants; why are we acting surprised and locking away Africa when this variant is already on three continents? Nobody is locking away Belgium and Israel,” she angrily stated. She called on African leaders to stand up and find their voices. 

“Our presidents need to realise that this is not business as usual; the continent and lives are at stake. We cannot allow the world to do this to us. We can have a coordinated global shutdown on travel for a month if you like but don’t single out Africa,” she stated.

International relations minister Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah said the closure of borders is a serious step that will affect businesses and the tourism industry, which was showing signs of recovery in recent months.

“It is unfortunate that these countries have gone to the conclusion of closing borders while the World Health Organisation hasn’t pronounced itself on the matter,” she said. 

“As far as Namibia is concerned, no communication has been given on whether we will close our borders, which will be done by the health ministry. For us, the status quo remains until our scientists and those in the health sector advise us accordingly.”

She called on Namibians to not panic and continue adhering to the Covid-19 regulations, especially with the number of gatherings that have been increased and fast approaching the festive season. “Let’s not be loose; the festive season is here. We need to make ourselves available to be vaccinated while at the same time complying with the protocols. The government will react to how people behave; if they behave well and continue to reduce the infection, no further restrictions will be imposed,” she stated. 

She said the ministry has contacted the UK government, and information will be communicated on the way forward, especially now that Namibia has been put on UK’s red list again.  The Angolan government at the weekend also suspended flights from its regional neighbours in a bid to prevent the spread of the Omicron variant. Angola said it will close its border to Namibia with effect from 1 December. 

Meanwhile, the health ministry yesterday said following the detection of the new variant of concern, it has been noted that more new moderate and severe cases are being reported among young people.

According to the ministry, this is the group that is mainly not vaccinated.

- psiririka@nepc.com.na