[ad_1]
CAPE TOWN (Reuters) – When businesswoman Marina Wessolowski arrived in Cape Town on December 12, she was eager to spend Christmas with family and friends before flying back to Germany early next month.
But the emergence of a new, fast-spreading strain of the coronavirus in South Africa means that she, her husband and their two daughters are now unsure when they will be able to return home.
This is because a growing number of countries, including Germany, have banned travelers from South Africa while they assess the danger posed by the new variant.
“We found out this morning that we won’t be able to go home, so it’s a huge shock to us,” Wessolowski, who runs a cosmetics distribution company in Berlin, told Reuters, just outside her rental apartment overlooking the city. city.
Lufthansa airline had not yet received any notification about its January 12 return flight to Frankfurt. “We haven’t heard from anyone specifically about what the next step is, so we’re waiting,” he said.
At OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg on Tuesday, there were fewer passengers than normal, most flying on domestic routes.
South Africa’s health department said last week that the new mutation of the virus could be behind a recent spike in infections. The variant is different from one identified in Great Britain, although both carry mutations that make them more transmissible than previously circulating dominant strains.
Having not seen her 76-year-old mother for a year, Wessolowski, a South African-born German, said her inability to interact more due to COVID-related restrictions has been the most difficult part of her visit.
“She has felt very lonely … but we all follow the rules and keep our distance from her. It’s very difficult to see your mom after a year and you can’t hug her, ”added Wessolowski tearfully.
South Africa’s tourism department said it had no information on the number of flights canceled or rescheduled due to bans, but was working with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and foreign embassies to facilitate contact between foreign nationals in South Africa and their governments. .
Information from Wendell Roelf, additional information from Emma Rumney and Siphiwe Sibeko in Johannesburg and Kate Kelland in London; edited by MacDonald Dzirutwe and John Stonestreet
