Professor Salim Abdool Karim said that South Africa was not caught with its pants down and the country was prepared for a new coronavirus variant.
There are fears that travel bans placed on South Africa by some in the international community following the detection of the Omicron COVID-19 variant could have a devastating impact on the sector.
The Health Department is briefing the media on the latest developments in its response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula was speaking at the 143rd Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly Plenary in Spain at the weekend.
The United Kingdom was the first to close its borders to southern Africans last Thursday, just hours after the Health Department confirmed the new coronavirus variant.
A task team will be established to consider restrictining entry to unvaccinated people at some places, President Cyril Ramaphosa said.
Following the emergence of the new coronavirus variant and a pending fourth wave, the business alliance group is calling on government to restrict access to some public indoor areas.
This comes amid a rapid rise in infections, the discovery of the new Omicron variant and a growing list of travel bans imposed by some countries.
President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the nation on Sunday night regarding the emergence of the Omicron coronavirus variant and South Africa's response to it.
President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the nation on 28 November 2021 after the announcement of the Omicron variant in South Africa last week and the reaction from various countries to it by banning travellers from South Africa. #Ramaphosa #Covid19news
Scientists have expressed concern about the new variant and are working to understand its potential implications.
The province's head of Health, Dr Keith Cloete, said that over the past few days there'd been an increase in cases.
The International Relations Department is concerned that this will have a massive impact on tourism at a time when South Africa's economy relies on European tourists.
The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) on Thursday confirmed that 22 cases of the variant - called B.1.1.529 - had also been detected in Botswana and Hong Kong.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid said the new variant, which South Africa attributed to a surge in cases and had also been detected in travellers from the country in Botswana and Hong Kong, had not been found so far in Britain.
Following genomic sequencing, the variant - B.1.1.529 - was detected in 22 positive cases in the country.
The minister was giving a briefing on Thursday following a recent cabinet meeting.
More than 1,000 new COVID-19 infections have been recorded in Gauteng in the latest reporting cycle. That’s more than 80% of the 1,275 new cases reported around the country.
