The Federated Hospitality Association of South Africa (FEDHASA) has raised concerns over a potential third wave of the coronavirus, saying it is unlikely that the hospitality industry will survive due to the negative financial impact of the pandemic.
The association says further heavy lockdown regulations could cause businesses in the sector to close down.
FEDHASA’s Chairperson Rosemary Anderson says the problem is that the first wave left people financially compromised.
“The problem is that from the first wave, people were financially compromised. The savings that hospitality businesses have had were eaten into. So, unfortunately, even though a lot of them are still trading, they are financially compromised. So any further shutdown or loss of income will be below. We really have to work hard to make sure that there isn’t a third wave and follow health and safety protocols so there is no spread of the virus and keep things as safe as possible.”
A tough year for the tourism and hospitality industry amid COVID-19:
Public’s behaviour
In early March, the Co-chairperson of the Ministerial Advisory Committee on COVID-19, Professor Salim Abdool Karim, warned that the severity of the expected next wave, the third wave, depends on the public’s behaviour.
“We are at a lower level of transmission, we want to keep it there and we definitely don’t want it spiking up again. We can expect that our third wave will occur somewhere in June or July, if there is a new variant then it’s completely unpredictable and we can then expect a much more severe third wave if there is no new variant then our wave might be a smaller one,” Karim said.
Karim said the government is better prepared for the next wave of infections.
“So the original arrangements were that we would receive about 300 000 doses in the first group and then 200 000 adding up to about 500 000 they were supposed to be delivered on a fortnightly basis, but I think they are ahead of schedule and so they might be coming more frequently than that. As it stands, we have now been expanding the number of sites that have been vaccinating so it’s quite likely that the next batches will come before the fortnight is out.”
South Africa warned of a possible third wave of COVID-19:
Professor of Vaccinology at Wits University, Shabir Madhi predicted a resurgence of coronavirus infections at the end of May and early June.
Mahdi said that the easing of restrictions, the Easter period and expected cooler temperatures in the coming months is likely to see an increase in COVID-19 cases.
