Mar
21
Facts about South Africa
We have all heard it – the South African Mutation…..that which terrified Germany and Europe!
Let’s clear this up and tell you the actual truth about this mutation……
What is this 501Y.V2 variant – a “South African mutation”?
The global negativity around the ‘SA variant’ has to stop!
WESGRO (Cape Town & Western Cape Tourism, Trade and Investement Agency) stated in February this year: “Key to our tourism and travel industry recovery is the necessity to change the current naming convention for the strain, discovered and picked up in South Africa.”
“Despite the negative narrative in the press about the 501Y.V2 variant identified first in South Africa, the real story is that ours is one of the few countries in the world doing comprehensive genome mapping of the virus as it mutates.”
“It is a story of world-class medical capabilities, not additional risk in South Africa as a destination, and has resulted in South Africa being identified as a leader in the world on genomic surveillance.”
“The WHO is currently in the process of establishing a nomenclature – a standardised naming process for the variants – this will help individuals defaulting to geography when describing any variant.”
“This inaccurate labelling, and the misinformation surrounding it, could potentially have an adverse impact on the South African country brand as well as the commendable work that the country has done in fighting the pandemic. Calling it the SA variant is prejudicial, discriminatory, and unjust.”
WESGRO elaborates: “Our world-class medical capability to conduct regular genomic surveillance led to the breakthrough discovery of 501Y.V2, and brought the world a step closer to understanding the complexities of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and more effective vaccination.”
“South Africa’s scientists found 501Y.V2 because they were looking. It’s unfair and inaccurate for this discovery to lead to us shouldering responsibility for the variant around the world.”
Corona Update from South Africa
- South Africa is back to Level 1 😊
- State of disaster has been extended until 30.04.2021
- Wearing a mask is still compulsory at all times!
- Curfew hours are now midnight until 4am
BRAND NEW in Cape Town: COVID-19 Testing Centre
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Location: The Lookout Waterfront
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Opening times: 8am – 6pm, 7 days a week
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Parking: free and on site
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No booking required
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Rapid Antigen Test costs ZAR 350.00 (Results take 15 – 20 min)
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PCR Test costs ZAR 850.00 (Results take 24 – 48 hours – they do speed up for Germans as they know their requirements)
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Card payments only (Visa or Mastercard)
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Results are automatically sent to the Health Passport Worldwide App that you can download on your smart phone or tablet
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You can print the results as well (PDF document on app)
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Free WiFi available at the testing centre
We are ready to welcome your guests again – even during Corona times!