The World Health Organization (WHO) said that countries across the world cannot keep their borders closed for much longer. They have also stipulated that international trade must resume to ensure economic survival.
‘Continuing to keep international borders sealed is not necessarily a sustainable strategy for the world’s economy, for the world’s poor, or for anybody else. So we really do have to make progress by beginning to do that (open borders), but do it in a way that is least risky,’ said WHO Emergencies Programme Head, Mike Ryan, according to Tourism Update.
Leaders within the WHO added that the only way to beat the virus worldwide would be to follow strict health measures. These include wearing masks and maintaining good hygiene, as well as preventing large crowds from gathering.
‘Where these measures are followed, cases go down. Where they are not, cases go up,’ WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
South African Deputy Minister of Tourism, Fish Mahlalela recently said that South Africa’s domestic tourism is likely to resume in late September or early October.
International tourism is expected to resume from January 2021.
Tourism Business Council of South Africa, however, have called for borders to reopen for inbound tourism as soon as September.
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