SANParks and the COVID 19 pandemic

[Richprins]

Media Release: SANParks Calls For Shared Responsibility In Light Of Covid-19 Surge In Eastern And Western Cape

10 December 2020

The country's body charged with the management of national parks, South African National Parks (SANParks) calls for shared responsibility in exercising responsible travelling and behaviour in the midst of an increase in COVID-19 cases in areas where some of its national parks are situated.

This according to SANParks Acting Head of Communications, Rey Thakhuli who said some of the national parks managed by SANParks fall within the jurisdiction of the identified hotspots in both the Eastern and Western Cape where an increase in COVID-19 cases have been reported.

He said these areas include the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality and Sarah Baartman District both in the Eastern Cape, bordering Addo Elephant National Park and part of the Garden Route District in the Western Cape, bordering Garden Route National Park (Tsitsikamma, Knysna and Wilderness sections). There are also some concerns highlighted in areas such as Table Mountain, Agulhas and West Coast National Parks in the Western Cape.

According to Thakhuli, in line with the call made by the President on 3 December 2020 to help curb the further resurgence of COVID-19, SANParks will continue to implement stringent protocols in all its national parks including those in identified hotspots and those likely to be potential hotspots.

He indicated that the organisation is currently seeing a lot of uncertainty and anxiety in particular concerning travelling in the identified hot spots with some cancellations already effected by guests for bookings in Addo Elephant and the Garden Route National Parks starting from 16 December 2020 to 15 January 2021. "Despite the negative effect brought by these cancellations, SANParks welcomes the move by guests and would accept more voluntary cancellation as a means of helping to manage lower occupancy levels and curb the spread of COVID-19 especially in those parks that are situated within the Eastern and Western Cape."

Thakhuli said to ensure that occupancy remains low during this difficult times, SANParks has also taken a decision not to take new bookings if cancellations are realised for Addo Elephant and Garden Route National Parks (Tsitsikamma, Knysna and Wilderness)... "and should travellers elect to cancel or postpone their bookings to a later date for these specific areas, SANParks will not charge fees or penalise cancellations, amendments and postponements for a 12 month period from the departure date of an existing booking in those areas".

He emphasised that cancellations, amendments and postponements for bookings in all other national parks will carry penalties as per the SANParks Reservations Policy. He added that there will be a visible presence of Rangers and other park officials in Cape parks to enforce responsible conduct for the safety of both visitors and staff, these officials will also administer temperature checks regularly and ensure that there is adherence to the obligatory wearing of masks and maintaining the prescribed social distancing. Ablution blocks and areas frequented by guests will be disinfected often, sanitizing stations will be made available and travellers are also encouraged to double the efforts by utilising their own sanitizers. Parents are encouraged to monitor the movement of their children at all times.

Further measures to be introduced in the parks in the Eastern and Western Cape include a total ban on the transport or consumption of all alcoholic beverages for day visitors within the parks; introduction of day visitor quotas and closure of some public areas - these include some picnic sites, day visit attractions and some beaches managed by SANParks. In addition, open safari vehicles for game-viewing specifically in Addo Elephant National Park will only load 50 percent of the allowed capacity. These measures will prevail from the 16th December 2020 to the 15th January 2021.

"We urge those travellers who elect to proceed with their travel to our parks in the Cape to assist us and practise the basic hygiene principles to mitigate the spread of the disease and adhere to the set rules of the park," concluded Thakhuli.

Issued by:
South African National Parks (SANParks) Corporate Communications

Media enquiries:
Reynold "Rey" Thakhuli
SANParks Acting Head of Communications
073 373 4999
Email: rey.thakhuli@sanparks.org

[Lisbeth]

Ablution blocks and areas frequented by guests will be disinfected often

This has no sense as the virus does not survive on surfaces for more than some seconds.

Have they closed the restaurants?

[Richprins]

I think the virus can survive on hard surfaces for days, Lis!

[Lisbeth]

There are so many contradicting "facts" that I do not feel like insisting. You might be right

[Dzombo]

I think the virus can survive on hard surfaces for days, Lis!

I have seen 48 hours quoted quite often

[Peter Betts]

Ablution blocks and areas frequented by guests will be disinfected often

This has no sense as the virus does not survive on surfaces for more than some seconds.

Have they closed the restaurants?

The Virus survives for DAYS on most surfaces

[Lisbeth]

World Health Organization:

COVID-19 alert
Common question
How long does Coronavirus stay on surfaces?

There is currently no data available on the stability of 2019-nCoV on surfaces. Data from laboratory studies on SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV have shown that stability in the environment depends on several factors including relative temperature, humidity, and surface type. WHO continues to monitor existing evidence around nCoV and will update when such evidence is available.

[Klipspringer]

https://mybroadband.co.za/news/trending ... y-low.html

International travel an issue
SANParks General Manager of Revenue and Yield Joep Stevens told MyBroadband that although bookings at its parks had increased for December 2020, it was still 10% down when compared to the previous year.

He explained that almost half of the typical 6-7 million annual visitors to SANParks were international travellers.

“48.9% are from outside South Africa and therefore make up a significant portion of total,” Stevens said.

Table Mountain National Park weighs heavily as it accounts for nearly half of al total international guests – with 76% of visitors to the location being foreigners.

Guests to Parks (people through gates) was down 62.8% for October and 64.1% for November compared to the same months in 2019.

“As long as foreign tourists do not return, guests numbers will be severely impacted,” Stevens said.

While South Africa has lifted bans on travel from all countries around the world, the same may not be true for those various countries’ governments.

This means that their citizens may not be able to travel to the country.

One interesting trend the organisation had noticed in November was a 35.6% decrease in accommodation bookings while camping reservations shot up by 40.6%.

Most popular destinations
Stevens said that the usual SANParks locations are again in demand – including the coastal parks in the Eastern Cape and Western Cape, as well as Kruger, Kgalagadi, Addo, Mountain Zebra and Karoo national parks.

However, these locations were not yet fully booked, he indicated.

[Mel]

While South Africa has lifted bans on travel from all countries around the world,...

The oddest thing... while we had way lower numbers than now, we were excluded (just like the rest of the nations that are now allowed to enter again) and now with our infection rate at its worst, SA would let us in.

One interesting trend the organisation had noticed in November was a 35.6% decrease in accommodation bookings while camping reservations shot up by 40.6%.

Maybe camping is just more affordable... especially after the long lockdown

[Lisbeth]

If the percentage of the camping spots is on the total of bookings it is logical that it is high, because the bookings of inside accommodations is very low due to the lack of foreigners. If it was a raise from November last year, then it is strange.