Leaders from southern Africa have joined the World Health Organisation in speaking out against the wave of travel bans imposed by the UK, EU and the US following the discovery of the COVID variant now known as Omicron.
After the new variant, which some experts fear could be more transmissible than the Delta strain, was identified by South African scientists last week, several countries rushed to shut their borders to southern Africa. The US government has blocked flights from Botswana, South Africa, Malawi, Eswatini, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Lesotho. Meanwhile, almost identical measures have been taken by the UK and EU.
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However, these measures have been implemented despite little evidence of the effects of the strain, or that it even originated in southern Africa. Over the weekend, Dr Angelique Coetzee – the head of South Africa’s Medical Association and the first person to officially alert the world to the strain – characterised the response to the new variant as “panicking unnecessarily” because all the patients she had seen, about half of whom were unvaccinated, only displayed mild symptoms, such as fatigue.
The travel bans have angered leaders across southern Africa, who fear their countries are being punished rather than praised for what should be considered a scientific breakthrough. “We are all concerned about the new COVID variant and owe South Africa’s scientists our thanks for identifying it before anyone else did,” President Lazarus Chakwere of Malawi said on Sunday. “But the unilateral travel bans now imposed on SADC [Southern African Development Community] countries by the UK, EU, US, Australia, and others are uncalled for. COVID measures must be based on science, not Afrophobia.”
In an address to the nation on Sunday, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said that the measures “unfairly discriminate against our country and our southern African sister countries.”
“We call upon all those countries that have imposed travel bans on our country and our southern African sister countries to immediately and urgently reverse their decisions,” Ramaphosa added. “The prohibition of travel is not informed by science. The only thing the prohibition on travel will do is to further damage the economies of the affected countries and undermine their ability to respond to, and recover from, the pandemic.”
Fearing that other countries in the future will be reluctant to come forward early about any new strains, the WHO has praised the scientists involved in the discovery and called for the borders to the region to be reopened.
“The speed and transparency of the South African and Botswana governments in informing the world of the new variant is to be commended,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa.
“WHO stands with African countries which had the courage to boldly share life-saving public health information, helping protect the world against the spread of COVID-19. On the eve of a special session on pandemic preparedness, I urge all countries to respect their legal obligations and implement scientifically based public health actions. It is critical that countries which are open with their data are supported as this is the only way to ensure we receive important data in a timely manner.”
