Don’t dice with people’s lives for political expediency

More and more countries around the world are imposing new Covid-19 measures on travellers coming from China in response to a reported resurgence of the virus in the nation of 1.4 billion people.

Not South Africa. The government just wants you to make sure you go and vaccinate or, if you have already, get a booster shot.

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While China in December relaxed travel restrictions – despite reports of overcrowded hospitals and mortuaries – European Union countries agreed on Tuesday to a “coordinated approach” to the changing Covid situation in China.

That sounds about right, given that China is keeping its cards close to its chest about the number of infections, with reports saying, for instance, that in Shanghai, 70% of the population may be positive for Covid.

Italy was the quickest European nation to react to the steep rise in Covid infections in China, ordering antigen swabs and virus sequencing for travellers coming from that country.

Now, France, Spain, the United States, India, Israel, Qatar and Morocco are among other nations that have introduced additional Covid measures for arrivals from China.

From today, the US, citing concerns about “lack of transparent data”, has also decided that all air passengers must have a negative Covid result from a test no more than two days before departure from China, Hong Kong and Macao.

China has said the entry restrictions “lacked scientific basis and are unreasonable” – and it is not surprising that the ANC government – a known friend of China – is siding with the superpower.

READ MORE: Top China expert says Covid-19 ‘spreading rapidly’ after rules easing

The question on many lips, however, is whether it is time for South Africa to join the bandwagon and also err on the side of caution.

We believe that while it is prudent to have as many people as possible vaccinated, we have to be careful that we are not dicing with people’s lives for political expediency.