Fin24 reports that Business for South Africa (B4SA) has called on government to move fast and restrict access to public indoor areas that are not required for emergency use (such as hospitals, grocery stores and certain Government services) to vaccinated South Africans only.

B4SA is an alliance of business people which works with the government, and other social partners, to mobilise corporate resources and capacity to combat the Covid-19 pandemic. B4SA’s call came after a new Covid-19 variant, which the World Health Organisation named Omicron, was identified on Thursday. “We need to rapidly move to a situation where only vaccinated individuals should be allowed to travel in buses, taxis and airplanes, or to eat and drink in indoor establishments such as restaurants and taverns. This is in line with global restrictions and based on the science regarding airborne disease. Ventilation and masks remain important, but we now need to look at enforcing a further layer of protection,” said Martin Kingston, B4SA’s chair. B4SA also called on employers to enforce restricted access to vaccinated individuals and implementing vaccine mandates wherever possible. The body furthermore called for lower limits on indoor and outdoor gatherings to be reintroduced.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard at Fin24

Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page