The mainstream media has screaming for the panic button to be pressed once again, this time the Covid threat is the `deadly’ Botswana variant. IE magazine looked online to see how this variant had affected the good people of Botswana and found that not only has Covid been slightly less fatal there, but the disease itself is not so adept at infecting a large percentage of the population.
According to Our World in Data Covid cases peaked at 2200 per day in August 2021. About 195,000 confirmed Covid cases have been reported in Botswana since the start of the pandemic. With a population of 2.3m that means about 8 percent of the population has contracted Covid.
In the UK test data estimates that well over half the population have contracted Covid19 – and that was back in April 2021, so it could be as high as 70% now. The UK has recorded some 144,000 with Covid deaths, compared to around 2368 deaths in Botswana as of October 6th 2021, which works out at 0.1 percent of the entire population. So 99.9% of people in Botswana have survived Covid19, or any variant of the original virus.
If you follow the science, the logical conclusion is that the Botswana variant – if it is as transmissbale here as it is in Botswana – is actually less dangerous than the Covid strains currently and previously affecting the UK.
Over to battleface;
battleface Insurance Services is offering reassurance to travellers that all battleface travel insurance products will continue to be valid and cover them if they need to travel to any of the six Southern African countries that the Government has added to the UK’s red list.
Katie Crowe, Director of Communications at battleface said: “There will still be travellers, who for family or other reasons still need to travel to the Southern African region. battleface travel insurance still provides valid travel insurance to protect them. Our products protect travellers regardless of traffic light colour and FCDO advisories and are available and accessible for all. In addition, travellers currently in the region can purchase a policy on the move.”
“Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, battleface has continued to provide relevant travel insurance policies to people who both need to and want to travel and as the travel landscape continues to be complex, we will continue to offer travel insurance that fit travellers’ needs.”
As well as adding six countries to the UK’s red list, the UK government has announced that flights from South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho and Eswatini will be banned until noon on Sunday so that there is time to reinstate the quarantine system.
The FCDO has also advised against all but essential travel to these countries based on concerns around a new COVID-19 variant.
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