African Tigress, Nov. 26, 2021
What do South Africans love about South Africa?
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Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post documents comments from South Africans and others watching African Tigress' YouTube vlog. African Tigress is a Kenyan young woman whose blog documents her travels throughout Africa. This video was published two days after African Tigress arrived in Capetown, South Africa. Although it's rare for the commenters in this discussion thread to identify their nationality, it's likely that most of the commenters in this particular discussion thread are either South Africans, from other Black African nations, or Black people from other nations throughout the world.
These selected comments are all of the comments that I've read on that video's discussion thread about Covid 19 in general and/or about the newly discovered Covid 19 variant that was announced on Nov. 27, 2021 in South Africa. A few responses to some of these comments are about other topics.
Information about the new Covid variant is also presented in this post for context purposes.
The content of this post is presented for historical and cultural purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to African Tigress for showing the world the real Africa. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
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DISCLAIMER:
I'm a subscriber to African Tigress' YouTube channel, and I'm documenting these selected comments without African Tigress' prior knowledge or permission for historical and cultural reasons.
This post should not be taken as meaning that the comments about Covid 19 were the only worthwhile portion of that discussion. I was also interested in other subjects, including the topic of the video "Why South Africans Love Their Country". Another topic that I found interesting were the differences of opinions about gay people in South Africa and elsewhere in Africa. That subject was raised because some of the people who African Tigress happened to be interview as she stood on a Capetown, South Africa sidewalk.
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ARTICLE EXCERPTS ABOUT SOUTH AFRICA AND THE NEW COVID 19 VARIANT
Excerpt #1
From https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-new-variant-omicron-explainer-116ef818ac4a8e7bc23bb28d6511ecad "Explainer: What we know and don't known on new Covid variant by Maria Cheng, Nov. 28, 2021
"LONDON (AP) — South African scientists identified a new version of the coronavirus that they say is behind a recent spike in COVID-19 infections in Gauteng, the country’s most populous province.
It’s unclear where the new variant first emerged, but scientists in South Africa alerted the World Health Organization in recent days, and it has now been seen in travelers arriving in several countries, from Australia to Israel to the Netherlands.
On Friday, the WHO designated it as a “variant of concern,” naming it “omicron” after a letter in the Greek alphabet.
WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT OMICRON?
Health Minister Joe Phaahla said the variant was linked to an “exponential rise” of cases in the last few days.
From just over 200 new confirmed cases per day in recent weeks, South Africa saw the number of new daily cases rocket to more than 3,200 Saturday, most in Gauteng.
Struggling to explain the sudden rise in cases, scientists studied virus samples and discovered the new variant. Now, as many as 90% of the new cases in Gauteng are caused by it, according to Tulio de Oliveira, director of the KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform.
WHY ARE SCIENTISTS WORRIED ABOUT THIS NEW VARIANT?
After convening a group of experts to assess the data, the
WHO said that “preliminary evidence suggests an increased risk of reinfection
with this variant,” as compared to other variants."....
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Excerpt #2
From https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/new-covid-variant-travel/index.html "Travel doors slam shut as new Covid variant triggers alarm, stranding hundreds of passengers" by Tamara Hardingham-Gill, Laura Smith-Spark and Ivana
Kottasová, CNN • Updated 28th November 2021
"(CNN) — Major travel destinations including the European
Union, Japan, Australia, the United States and Canada have moved to block
flights from African countries following the discovery of the Omicron variant,
echoing previous emergency responses that triggered a global freeze on travel.
The speed with which the new restrictions were put in place
-- just hours after the South African health authorities announced the
discovery of the variant, meant passengers have found themselves stranded
without a warning. While scientists in South Africa were the first to identify
the new variant, it is unclear whether it emerged there or was brought there
from another country.
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SELECTED COMMENTS FROM THIS VLOG DISCUSSION THREAD
Numbers are added for referencing purposes only.
Nov. 27, 2021
1. Drucella
"African Tigress Covid is REAL!! The pandemic is NOT over. South Africa is
experiencing many variants of the virus. Yet in your segment no one was WEARING
a mask including yourself. Your mic was passed person to person without any
sanitizing. Please take precautions against this virus. South Africans are not
taking the virus seriously, hence their increase in Covid cases and deaths. To
South Africans " A hard head makes a soft behind." Please take all
the necessary precautions.
Have visited SA. Capetown reminds me of San Francisco, the
diversity of its people, the hills, the ocean and the climate. However, when
you travel outside of the larger cities like Capetown and Joburg you still see
the mental effects of apartheid in the people."
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Reply
2. AUSTINE AK, Nov. 28, 2021
"Which people?"
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3. 이준수
"Where is the Nu variant virus? There's very peaceful. But
many media and news say fear. What's happening nowadays in world?"
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Reply
4. Lorenzo Di Trall
"hong kong"
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5. Jeswaz Wadi
"I cant wait to see the night life I know its exciting!!! and
yes SA is one of the only African countries where being gay is safe"
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Reply
6. Tlou Tlou2
"Ah there is corona do night live might be banned"
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7. Meena Free
"Shalom, did u hear abt the new travel ban AT! ?"
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Reply
8. AFRICAN TIGRESS
"Yes 🤦🏾♀"
*️*
Reply
9. Gabriel Mkhonza
"Why would I want to go to tge UK for, unless its business.
No vacationing in UK it's as cold as the Brits"
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Reply
10. AFRICAN TIGRESS
"@Gabriel Mkhonza Kenya has put restrictions too"
-snip-
Here are two quotes from online articles about Kenya's response to the new Covid 19 variant:
https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/kenya-on-high-alert-over-new-covid-variant-3632140 Nov. 26, 2021
...
“Special emphasis should be placed on the availability of critical care facilities, piped oxygen, and additional human resource surge capacity,” he said, while calling on all eligible Kenyans to be fully vaccinated.
The proportion of adults fully vaccinated against the virus is still relatively low at 9.4 per cent prompting the government this week to issue a directive that residents must show proof of Covid-19 vaccination by December 21 to access government services.
Dr Amoth further directed that all points of entry must
conduct rigorous screening of all arriving passengers from the affected
countries, with physical proof of vaccination prior to entry into the country
for all inbound travellers."
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https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/bd/news/kenya-intensifies-surveillance-new-covid-variant-south-africa-3632392 Nov. 26, 2021
..."Travellers arriving from southern African countries will have to undergo Covid-19 tests as Kenya steps up surveillance at points of entry following reports of a new lethal coronavirus variant in South Africa."...
Reply
11. Gabriel Mkhonza
"
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12. Christine Van Der Merwe
"Except for never ending lockdowns!!!!"
-snip-
This comment was probably made in response to the main question that was asked "What do you love about South Africa?"
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13. eswaz Wadi
"we are safe in Africa"
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Reply
14. Nomathemba
"Covid is everywhere"
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Reply
15. Jeswaz Wadi
" @Nomathemba it is I meant to say we have fewer cases even when it started ,it increased due to chose travelling from usa &Europe"
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Nov. 28, 2021
16. Bekki Bekki
"New variant has emerged in south Africa yall sharing the mike speaker . Careful
people."
17. George Abek
"Why are they banning flights to South Africa when it's a global pandemic"
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Visitor comments are welcome.
Here's an excerpt from a Nov. 28, 2021 article about the new Covid variant in South Africa
ReplyDeletehttps://news.yahoo.com/virus-variant-casts-pall-shocks-152802292.html
In omicron hot spot, somber mood as S Africa faces variant
by MOGOMOTSI MAGOME and ANDREW MELDRUM
Sun, November 28, 2021, 10:28 AM
"PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — The overcast, drizzly skies match the somber mood at the Tshwane University of Technology, a hot spot in South Africa’s latest surge of COVID-19 cases, apparently driven by the new omicron variant that is leading countries around the world to impose new restrictions.
After several students tested positive, the university postponed some exams, and officials in the larger metropolitan area of Tshwane, which includes the capital of Pretoria, are pushing vaccinations, especially among younger adults who have been slow to get the shots.
At TUT, as the university is known, few students wanted to speak about the new variant that has cast a pall. Many were not vaccinated — only 22% of 18- to 34-year-olds in South Africa are — and some seemed to be rethinking that, though notably the university's vaccination center was closed for the weekend.
Manqoba Zitha, a student who has gotten the shot, said he will be pushing fellow classmates to do the same.
“I’m trying to encourage them so that they can vaccinate, so they can stay away from coronavirus because it’s there, it’s killing people, and now numbers are rising,” said Zitha. “Now when we are watching TV we can see that people are getting coronavirus. So they must vaccinate!”
One young man who happened to be interviewed by African Tigress mentions Covid and vaccinations (beginning at 5:22 in this video. He said he liked South Africa's vibe. That while other countries take Covid seriously, people in South Africa make jokes about it.
ReplyDeleteIf I understand him correctly, I don't believe he meant that South Africans think that Covid isn't something to be concerned about, but that at the same time South Africans don't let Covid get them down.