Health minister Zweli Mkhize is running the repatriation and isolation of the Chinese contingent with military precision. File photo
Image: Supplied
Security has been beefed up at The Ranch Resort near Polokwane, Limpopo, where a group of South Africans being repatriated from the coronavirus epicentre in Wuhan, China, will be quarantined.that the police and the military had taken over the four-star resort, which is about 25km from Polokwane, since about midday on Thursday and have blockaded the main road leading to the venue as they prepare to host about 122 citizens who are expected to land in the country on Friday.

Staff at the hotel have been placed on leave for the next 21 days while patrons who were booked in at the hotel were asked to vacate it on Thursday morning.

“We were told that if we fail to come today [to fetch belongings], we will have to come back after 21 days. I can’t stay here for those days, I have children to look after,” one staff member said on Thursday.

Cape Town International Airport began installing banners and hand sanitisers in its international terminal on March 12 2020, attempting to prevent any potential spread of the coronavirus in SA. Some South Africans believe the virus is being taken too seriously, while others think it could cause chaos.

The number of people who have tested positive for coronavirus in SA increased to 17 on Thursday.

Health minister Zweli Mkhize will on Thursday evening officially announce that the resort has been picked as the quarantine centre.

This comes after initial negotiations with a resort in the Free State collapsed last week.

Mkhize has been holding meetings with the ANC in Limpopo along with the party’s national deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte since early Thursday morning.

The meetings were held to allay any fears regarding the patients being quarantined in the province.

The ANC Youth League in the province said it was worried about the decision and had planned to hold a protest around the area.

“Our bone of contention as the ANCYL in Peter Mokaba is that the first site which was identified is the Free State, and now that the Free State has reneged, Limpopo province was seen to be a low-hanging fruit to play host to the patients,” its statement read.

“While acknowledging the work done by govt [government] of educating the people of SA about coronavirus, we are worried about the socioeconomic conditions that the majority of our people find themselves in.

“For example, if one of the employees were to contract the virus, they would transmit it to the multitudes of people that they interact with in the public transport, their homes and other places where black people socialise,” it added.

Test tube with Corona virus name label is seen in this illustration.
Image: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/File Photo
A Free State man who was reportedly the first South African to have contracted coronavirus without travelling outside the country has now tested negative.

Health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize said on Thursday night that the man was tested at a private facility in the Free State. Mkhize said that because the man “did not fit the case definition”, the test was done again at the National Health Laboratory Service in Johannesburg. That test came back negative.

As a result, the number of South Africans who have tested positive for coronavirus is now 16.

“We can’t explain why some tests come out positive then later negative. We released the result of positive, we then did additional verification, which confirmed it was negative. It’s not a crisis, it happens every now and then. This particular patient is now negative after verification,” said Mkhize.

At the media conference, The Ranch, a four-star hotel near Polokwane, Limpopo, was identified as a quarantine point for South Africans being flown back from coronavirus-hit Wuhan.

Mkhize announced that the 145-bedroom facility, 25km south of Polokwane, was the quarantine point.

A kite-surfer near the Koeberg nuclear power station. File photo.
Image: ESA ALEXANDER
Koeberg nuclear power station will be fully operational again on Sunday.

This after it experienced a procedural manual trip on one of its units during the week.

Eskom said the manual trip was as a result of increasing temperature on the secondary side of the plant due to degraded heat removal (or cooling) capability- because the pump that remained in service was supplying a heat exchanger that was degraded and not able to sufficiently remove heat.

“The circulating cooling water system pump that tripped was due to low level in the suction pit as a result of the drum filter that was clogged by an acute ingress of marine life (jellyfish and fish).

“Normally, Koeberg units are able to survive a trip of one circulating cooling water system pump. The actions required from the operators are to reduce power to below 60% and to ensure that temperatures of various components on the secondary side stabilise,” said Eskom.The power utility added that in this case, the temperature did not stabilise due to the heat exchanger remaining in service which had reduced heat transfer efficiency.

“The excess marine life and debris have been cleared off the drum filter and it is back in service. The level in the suction pit has sufficiently recovered and the circulating water system pump has been put back in service and no anomalies have been noted.

“Upon inspection, it was found that the pump had not been damaged as initially feared,” it said.

The current projected synchronisation date is Sunday, March 15 2020.

Eskom advised that stage 4 load-shedding will continue until Friday evening.

The travel industry has taken a hit of gargantuan proportions ever since the outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic. Fears are running high, and people are cancelling their trips. No one want to be in an airport during a time like this.

However, Flight Centre has revealed it recently issued travel quotes to the value of R140 million in just one weekend, proving that South Africans are eager to travel despite the weak exchange rate and coronavirus concerns.

Over 100 000 travellers participated in the recent Flight Centre Travel Group’s pop-up Travel Expo.

“South Africans are incredibly resilient and continue to look for bargain travel deals,” said Flight Centre Travel Group Middle East and Africa MD, Andrew Stark. “The weekend’s Travel Expo showed us that there’s still a massive appetite among South Africans to travel, especially if they can get a good deal.”

While the vast majority (80%) of flight bookings made during the Travel Expo were international travel bookings, domestic travel bookings showed the strongest growth. Local flight bookings were up by over 130% from the previous year, while overall domestic travel bookings showed an increase of over 50%.

“South Africa came up head and shoulders above all international destinations both in terms of packages and flights sold, with Cape Town in top spot, followed by Johannesburg and Durban,” said Stark. Other popular international destinations this year were Greece, Canada and Turkey. Bookings to Greece increased by over 60% while Canada showed over 110% growth. Turkey holiday sales were up by over 50%.

Although sales for Mauritius declined compared to the previous year, the island remains a popular destination for South Africans.

“Our best-selling products were Sun Resorts properties [in Mauritius] i.e. Long Beach, Sugar Beach, Ambre and La Pirogue as well as the Veranda properties,” reported Ramesh Jeenarain, Managing Director World Leisure Holidays.

“This year’s Flight Centre Travel Expo was again a success for Beachcomber,” said Joanne Visagie, Sales and Marketing Director Beachcomber SA. “Bookings came in from all corners of the country. Victoria Beachcomber Resort & Spa reported the most bookings. The Expo was well organised by Flight Centre; and provided a great awareness platform that boosted sales.”

Cruising and touring
Although Indonesia and Thailand are usually top sellers for Flight Centre, these destinations were outperformed by cruising and touring this year.

Especially cruising proved popular with cruise sales seeing an increase of 30%.

“One of our feature offers was an amazing once-in-a-lifetime deal on a bucket list travel dream to see the northern lights in Norway onboard a Hurtigruten cruise,” said Jackie Adami, Managing Director at Development Promotions. “Our sales revenue was up 45% compared to 2019, making it one of our best travel expos in recent years.”

Also guided holiday tours have become a popular option for many South Africans.

Alex Gonsalves, On The Go Tours General Manager South Africa and Middle East, reported that Turkey was a bestseller for guided holiday tours. “Our biggest seller over the Expo period was Turkey, and I think this was due to the 50% discount we had offered on this tour, easy accessibility from a flight point of view and the ease of applying for the ETA visa.”

“We look forward to Flight Centre’s Travel Expo every year and it has become a highlight in our sales and marketing calendar,” said Bronwyn Strydom, Marketing Manager for The Travel Corporation (TTC). “This year presented a few challenges with the current Coronavirus outbreak being one, but I know that TTC’s focused messaging and 100-year reputation for stability and experience were key factors in securing bookings.

South Africans undeterred by global events
South Africans are still travelling despite uncertain global conditions.

“As a travel company, we have a responsibility to always be at the forefront of giving our customers factual information,” said Kim Taylor, Customer Experience Director at the Flight Centre Travel Group. We take great guidance from reputable organisations such as the World Health Organisation and the NICD. Our responsibility is to support customers by making them aware of their options and ensure they are informed at all times.”

Travel insurance is now more important than ever, she adds.

Find Your Escape by signing up for the Traveller24 Weekly Newsletter – Subscribe here. Or download the News24 App here, to receive expertly curated travel ideas and deals directly to your mobile.

SPONSORED:Visa-free travel: DHA to release details on eased travel restrictions for China
The details around eased visa-restrictions for certain types of travel to China for South Africans are yet to be released, following the announcement of high-level agreements with China ahead of the BRICS summit.
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The Bugatti Chiron is one of the fastest production cars ever made, but this was not enough as the automaker sought to make the car even better. And faster.

The changes the Pur Sport boasts over the standard Chiron includes a rear spoiler that stretches 1.90m. This, says Bugatti, is to generate greater downforce and improve aerodynamics.

Widened air-inlets help improve cooling, while the front splitter is used to make the car both imposing and more dynamically apt.

Inside, Bugatti deliberately made the interior sporty and raw. The oversized surfaces are decked in Alcantara to save weight. This material has also been used on the steering wheel and seats.

All trim and controls are made exclusively of either black, anodised aluminium or titanium, says Bugatti.

A lot of horses

Bugatti says that the gearbox’s gear ratio has been configured 15% closer together to better the channeling of the massive engine’s power. The 8.0-litre W16 engine develops 1120kW (1500HP) and 1600Nm, which allows the car to go from 0 – 100km/h in under two seconds. Should you be brave enough to breach 350km/h, Bugatti says the car will then release all of its power.