Silent Goodbye a sad reality. (Mom passes on & leaves small Children)

The quiet community of Ngodini, just outside Nelspruit in Mpumalanga, South Africa, woke up to heartbreaking news that left neighbours and relatives in disbelief. Twelve-year-old Ayanda had always been the responsible one. As the eldest of three children, she helped her mother care for her younger siblings, eight-year-old Sipho and four-year-old Amahle. Their mother, Nomsa, worked hard to provide for them, often reminding her children that no matter how difficult life became, they should always love and protect one another. One cold winter morning, the children woke up as usual. Ayanda prepared breakfast while waiting for their mother to get up for work. Minutes turned into an hour, but Nomsa never came out of her bedroom. Ayanda gently knocked on the door. "Mama?" she called softly. There was no answer. She knocked again, louder this time. "Mama, it's morning. You have to wake up." Still, there was only silence. Growing worried, Ayanda tried opening the door. H...

LONDON, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Passengers arriving in England from Monday from any of 33 "red list" countries will have to spend 10 days quarantined in a hotel room under new border restrictions designed to stop new variants of the coronavirus.

 The launch of the system, which had already been set out earlier this month, marks the government’s latest effort to prevent another relapse into crisis after a second wave of a more contagious COVID-19 variant forced the country into a prolonged lockdown at the start of the year.

New cases, deaths and hospitalisations are falling sharply and the rollout of vaccines has reached more than 15 million people, but ministers are still wary that new mutations from overseas might unravel that progress.

“As this deadly virus evolves, so must our defences,” health minister Matt Hancock said in a statement. “The rules coming into force today will bolster the quarantine system and provide another layer of security against new variants at the border.”

The government has lined up 4,963 hotel rooms that must be booked in advance as part of a ‘quarantine package’. These hotels will have a “visible security presence”, the government said. A further 58,000 rooms are on standby.

Countries on the red list include South Africa and Brazil – both of which have seen variants of the virus that could reduce the efficacy of existing vaccines.

Ministers have been criticised by opponents for being too slow to close the door to new variants, having first announced plans for hotel quarantine in January.

Arrivals from countries not on the red list are required to quarantine at home for 10 days and take two COVID-19 tests.

The tougher quarantine restrictions also carry heavy fines and penalties with potential prison sentences of up to 10 years. (Reporting by William James; editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)

Information pertaining to Covid-19, vaccines, how to control the spread of the virus and potential treatments is ever-changing. Under the South African Disaster Management Act Regulation 11(5)(c) it is prohibited to publish information through any medium with the intention to deceive people on government measures to address COVID-19. We are therefore disabling the comment section on this article in order to protect both the commenting member and ourselves from potential liability. Should you have additional information that you think we should know, please email letters@dailymaverick.co.za


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

MultiChoice’s BEE scheme trying to find 22 000 shareholders who are missing out on millions

This New Ultralight Aircraft May Be World’s Fastest Single-Engine Business Jet

Fighting Drug addiction