The Portuguese community in South Africa is following the evolution of a new variant of the coronavirus that causes Covid-19 found in the country with “great concern”, affecting businesses such as travel with concern. “It turns out to be an earthquake,” said Luce Silverio Silva, chief adviser to the Council of Portuguese Communities (CPC) in that country.
This Friday, the European Union decided to temporarily suspend flights from seven countries in southern Africa, including Mozambique and South Africa, due to the detection in South Africa of a variant of the coronavirus that causes Covid-19, which has mutated heavily. A similar decision has been made by several other countries such as the UK, Canada, Israel or the Philippines.
Portugal has already suspended flights to and from Mozambique since Monday, but from 00:00 this Saturday, all passengers on flights from Mozambique, South Africa, Botswana, Essuatini, Lesotho, Namibia and Zimbabwe “are required to complete a 14-day quarantine upon entering mainland Portugal , at home or in a place designated by the health authorities, ”the government said.
“The Portuguese community is intimidated, especially those who wanted to travel or send people to spend December or just Christmas here,” commented a community advisor.
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Silverio Silva, 84, has another cause for concern. He has a travel and tourism agency in Johannesburg for almost half a century, where he lived for 55 years, and has already sold many tickets for December, which covers the South African vacation period besides Christmas. and Christmas parties at the end of the year.
Regarding the new variant of the coronavirus that causes Covid-19, Silverio Silva expressed hope that the good weather in South Africa, which is now experiencing a warm season, will help stop the infection.
Regarding the new conclusion, which the South African authorities are expected to announce shortly, from December 15 to January 15, he said that it should be “lighter” and with less impact than the previous ones, as it takes place within a month. vacation. …
Ligia Fernandez, an advisor based in Cabo, the city where she lived 60 of her 75 years, told Luce that the Portuguese community was “very concerned” about the latest news on Option B.1.1.529. “The Portuguese are very withdrawn, they stay in their homes, with their family and little else. And this has been the case since the beginning of the pandemic, ”he said.
One consequence of this self-restraint was the suspension of a number of activities that the Portuguese community usually participated in during this time of year, such as a year-end dinner at the Academia de Bacalhau, which was canceled due to a lack of attendees avoiding gatherings.
At the same time, there has recently been an increase in the number of flights of people from Europe to spend the summer months in their homes in South Africa.
Many Portuguese also planned to travel to Portugal, namely Madeira – home of many Portuguese expats in South Africa – on Christmas Eve and New Years Eve, but now, with travel restrictions, it is not known if this airflow will be preserved and how these passengers will be returned. …
Ligia Fernandez regrets that the vaccinated rate does not exceed 50% of the population, and fears that, given the frequency of air travel, a new option will spread.
The new variant B.1.1.529 was discovered November 11 in South Africa after an exponential rise in infections, prompting scientists to study virus samples associated with the outbreak.
On Thursday, South Africa’s National Institute for Infectious Diseases (NICD) announced the discovery of a new variant, and cases have since been identified in Belgium, Israel, Hong Kong Administrative Region of China and Botswana.
The new variant contains 30 mutations in the “key” spike protein that allows the virus to enter human cells.
The World Health Organization (WHO), which on Friday gathered experts responsible for monitoring the evolution of SARS-CoV-2, indicated that it would take “several weeks” to find out the level of risk and transmissibility of the new strain.
