Roger Saha is on vacation in South Africa when the Corona variant Omikron is detected.
It must have been at lunchtime. Just instinctively turned the news louder in the car. And there was the first report that a new variant of the corona virus had been found in South Africa. There are a few cases and not much more is known yet. And I really instinctively had the feeling that it was getting bigger, it was getting more intense. The feeling was just there. In any case, it is clear to me that I will not stay in South Africa until December 1st, but that I will try to come back earlier. By the way, there weren’t any travel restrictions from Germany or the EU.
The RTL.de boss immediately rebooked his flight.
Actually, Saha would not have flown until December 2nd.
I went to the airport in Cape Town on Saturday afternoon to see if I could fly back earlier. Those were really heavy scenes at the counters because Turkish Airlines didn’t fly any more. British Airwaves has stopped flying. Air France had canceled flights. Emirates stopped flying. In other words, there was only KLM and Lufthansa. There were crowds at the KLM ticket counter. People who no longer knew how to get home. Especially British families who have felt completely abandoned by their government. And then there was information that the flights were full, maybe in ten days there would be a place.
He perceives a split mood in South Africa.
You then drive through several places, including places that are more touristy. The restaurants are full, there are people everywhere. You have the feeling, okay, omicron is not an issue here at all. But if you talk to the operators of bed and breakfasts or lodges. They are really desperate because it immediately became clear to them with this message that that was it for tourism for the time being. So I can’t say, at least what I’ve seen, that my impression is that the message changed something with the people themselves. Not yet.
And that although people seem to take the coronavirus very seriously.
I think masks are worn more consistently in public there than in Europe and Germany. There is also an obligation to wear a mask in general. As a rule, the South Africans take this really seriously. And it doesn’t matter which supermarket or restaurant you go to. So I do think that a lot is being done in South Africa to ensure that the so-called AHA rules are observed.
The journalist also finds it striking that South Africa is now being punished for its transparency.
Okay, we may have noticed something here. We inform the world public very transparently and what comes next is travel restrictions, entry bans, canceled flights. I feel so sorry for this for this country.
Roger Saha leaves the country with a bad feeling.
What if this test is positive, then I can’t get out of here for the time being. And I really wanted to go home too. Fortunately, the result was there after a little over 60 minutes. Test negative. At check-in was also very strictly controlled. So the test result was looked at several times. Then I had to show that I had made the entry report for Germany.
The plane is fully occupied – 294 people are on board.
He has to make a stopover in Amsterdam.
Then you got out of the plane. Stand at the gate. There were employees from the health authority and asked, okay, who is staying here in Amsterdam or who is Dutch? They then had to go in one direction. And who is in transit, like me, who will travel further to Germany. Then please go in the other direction. Next came the great hall at the airport in Amsterdam, where all the people mingled. And I thought, phew, I have to be quarantined for 14 days and now hundreds or thousands of people from all directions are mingling here. Is it really that good now?
But the situation is different in Düsseldorf.
Nobody spoke to you. I thought, okay, then somebody will come back to check in baggage to check whether you have a negative PCR test. Has the entry registration really been made? No federal police, no one from the health department. So I could walk out as if I had just come from Hamburg or somewhere else.
The 43-year-old has been in quarantine since Monday evening.
The health department does not contact him until Tuesday evening.