A number of South Africans who are studying in the United Kingdom will have to spend Christmas on campus following the announcement of immediate restrictions on travel to and from South Africa.
This is after British Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced South Africa travel restrictions after two cases of the new coronavirus variant have been discovered in the UK.
Both are contacts of cases who had travelled from South Africa. Laura-Jane Watkins is a South African national who is studying at the University of Birmingham.
She says most students who wanted to spend Christmas in South Africa are now stuck on campus in the UK.
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Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi says the Health Ministry will make a determination regarding travel from South Africa after the UK announced restrictions.
South Africa, last week, reported a new variant of the coronavirus that is more transmissible.
Motsoaledi says it is up to individual countries to act to protect their citizens.
“The regulations that have been passed was that the borders, the airports and the seaports are open for everybody as long as they produce a COVID-19 certificate. We have not been told any other thing by the ministry. Perhaps they will inform us. The decision they have taken is their own. We will have to see what our own decision is in terms of the UK.”
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