South Africa’s president has spoken out against the COVID-19 related travel bans imposed on his country COVID-19.
He insists South Africa should be “applauded” for discovering the new strain.
The bans came after South African scientists announced that they had discovered a new COVID-19 variant and reported it to the World Health Organization (WHO). WHO named the new variant omicron.
Several countries implemented bans on several African countries, including South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini, Malawi, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
“Excellent science should be applauded and not punished,” Cyril Ramaphosa said during a state visit to Nigeria. “As we meet today, we have noted the announcements by several countries to institute travel restrictions on South Africa and other countries in our region as a result of the discovery by our scientists of the new omicron variant of the coronavirus.”
World health experts are still searching for the origins of the omicron variant of the coronavirus.
In an interview with CNN, Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi said the variant was detected in diplomats who visited Botswana but had passed through Europe.
“The diplomats came from a number of countries, their countries of origin, their countries of work station, and they passed through a number of countries to get to Botswana,” Masisi said. “Yes, some have been to Europe and some have been elsewhere. It would seem the very creation of this new virus is a result of intervention from a diversity of sources.”
A Dutch health agency also claimed the strain was detected in the Netherlands a week before South Africa reported the new variant to WHO.
In the meantime, the travel ban negatively impacts the country’s economy.
“Whilst we respect the right of all countries to take the necessary precautionary measures to protect their citizens, we need to remember that this pandemic requires collaboration and sharing of expertise. […] It is our hope that the countries that have imposed these bans urgently reconsider their decisions,” Ramaphosa noted.
