South Africa has dropped two places from fifth to seventh among countries with highest number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in the world.
New daily coronavirus cases continue to decline in the country in recent weeks. On Sunday, South Africa announced 1,633 new cases, taking the total number of cases to 638,517 with the death toll at 14,889.
The US, India, Brazil, Russia, Peru and Columbia are the top six nations in confirmed cases.
South Africa’s Health Minister Zweli Mkhize says although the numbers are reducing, the country is not over the worst yet, fearing that there could be a resurgence.
“South Africans need to continue with containment measures in order to prevent a second wave,” he said in a Monday interview with state broadcaster SABC.
Meanwhile, Tourism minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane, last week, said her department will submit a plan on the recovery of South Africa’s tourism sector to cabinet shortly – including the reopening of international travel.
Kubayi-Ngubane, in a nationwide address, said that the plan will focus on the continued growth of the domestic tourism industry as well as the restarting of the international tourism industry.
“Our next step is to work towards the reopening of international travel,” she said.
“We are monitoring the risk of the virus spread and we are satisfied with the current downward trend of new infections, which if sustained, can fast-track the reopening of regional borders soon.”
In this way, through regional coordination with our regional partners, we could create a regional travel bubble, she said.
“Africa land markets form the bedrock of tourism in South Africa. This region alone accounts for 71% of international arrivals. This would give a further boost to the recovery efforts of the sector.”
“The rise in domestic tourism together with regional travel will help us build confidence for global travellers so that when we eventually open all our borders, we will be able to attract travel as a safe destination.”