South Africa considers vaccine mandates as omicron cases spiral; leaders decry travel bans
. Dutch authorities say omicron was already present in the Netherlands prior to South Africa reporting it to the WHO, prompting questions over how widely the variant could have already spread.
In a televised address on Sunday, President Cyril Ramaphosa said epidemiologists and disease modelers were warning that South Africa should expect a fourth wave of Covid-19 in early December, with the variant now found in all of the country's provinces. His comments have since been echoed by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who accused countries imposing travel bans on the region of "travel apartheid."
In a note to investors Monday, Oxford Economics Africa Senior Political Analyst Louw Nel and Economist Jee-A van der Linde said there is too little sign of urgency from the government in dealing with the thorny question of vaccine mandates. The South African economy is expected to have contracted in the third quarter, and increased restrictions could weigh further on economic activity in the fourth. However, Oxford Economics said depending on the severity of the fourth wave, the economy could start 2022 on a "much safer footing than previously thought."The country's PMI readings rebounded strongly in November, increasing to 57.2 points from 53.6 in October, with manufacturing activity surging.
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