Pretoria – Health Minister Dr. Joe Phaahla on Tuesday announced that South Africa was not going to impose any travel restrictions owing to the spread of the new Covid-19 Omicron subvariant, XBB.1.5, which is now dominant in the U.S.
The minister also said South Africa – acting on advice from the WHO – would not re-impose Covid-19 restrictions, but instead, Dr. Phaahla advised vulnerable people to get vaccinated.
Those who are due should get their booster jabs, Dr. Phaahla said.
He said that even though a single sample tested positive for XBB.1.5 in South Africa, there was no need for “panic”.
Dr. Phaahla said the sample was tested last month in the Western Cape and the results were only made public recently.
The health department said the status quo regarding those who test positive for Covid-19 remains the same.
Responding to a question, the minister said there was no evidence that the XBB.1.5, which is thought to spread much quicker, caused infected people more severe illnesses when compared to previous variants.
The health minister said South Africa will increase testing as part of monitoring the new variant.
