In light of the verified cases of COVID19 in the Eastern Cape measures are being put in place by government to contain the spread of the Corona Virus. It is crucial that the Eastern Cape Tourism sector aligns to these measures and practises with extreme caution and mindfulness when dealing with visitors from High risk countries.
Visitors from the following high risk countries should no longer be accepted by the EC tourism sector as per the South Africa’s travel ban announced By President Ramaphosa which became effective on the 18th of March 2020:
United States of America, Iran, South Korea, United Kingdom, Spain, Switzerland, China, France, Germany and Italy
The travel ban also includes travellers from medium-risk countries listed below which will be subject to intense health screening:
Portugal, Hong Kong and Singapore
As a largely rural province of limited resources and capacity, the welfare of our people is sacrosanct. It is of outmost importance that we all do everything in our power to keep the number of corona cases at bay and protect our communities.
It is against this background that I am requesting the Eastern Cape Tourism Sector not to take bookings of visitors from high risk countries as per the conditions of the afore mentioned travel ban announced by President Ramaphosa. In an event where establishments had bookings made prior the travel ban, products must postpone those for the same time in 2021. In event this is not possible, establishments should exercise necessary protocols of protecting their staff by contacting the embassies of the travellers as well as COVID-19 hotline: 0800 029 999 testing those visitors.
Establishments are further encouraged to request from visitors from high risk countries additional information beforehand. This should include personal details of visitor, entry date in South Africa (kindly check Home affairs entry stamp) and information about recent places visited by guests. All establishments must strive to make necessary arrangements for guests in their care by following the necessary guidelines as provided by the Department of Health on the COVID-19 Hotline 0800 029 999 as well the dedicated online resource SAcoronavirus.co.za.
We have to adhere to set precautions as they are the only way to assist positively in the pandemic we are finding ourselves in.
