Jubilee Post News & Views
Special Desk
While the world has started imposing travel bans for South Africa and the countries nearby, president of South Africa president Cyril Ramaphosa has condemned the move.
Travel bans have been enacted against SA and its neighbouring coutries over the new coronavirus variant Omicron. Ramaphosa said he was deeply disappointed by the action, which he described as unjustified, and called for the bans to be urgently lifted.
The UK, EU and US are among those who have imposed travel bans till now and more countries are pondering over similar ban. Omicron has been classed as a “variant of concern”.
SA stated it found new variant but not the origin. Early evidence suggests it has a higher re-infection risk, which is one reason why travel ban has been brought in.
The heavily mutated variant was detected in South Africa earlier this month and then reported to the World Health Organization (WHO). The variant is responsible for most of the infections found in South Africa’s most populated province, Gauteng, over the last two weeks, and the number of cases of appears to be increasing in almost all provinces in the country, according to the WHO.
South Africa reported 2,800 new infections on Sunday, a rise from the daily average of 500 in the previous week.
Government adviser and epidemiologist Salim Abdool Karim said he expected the number of cases to reach more than 10,000 a day by the end of the week, and for hospitals to come under pressure in the next two to three weeks.
Health Minister Joe Phaahla said there was absolutely no need to panic. “We have been here before,” he added, referring to the Beta variant identified in South Africa last December.
Ramaphosa has got some support from the WHO that has warned against countries hastily imposing travel curbs, saying they should look to a risk-based and scientific approach.
Also Read : Israel first country to slam door on Omicron
WHO’s Africa director Matshidiso Moeti said, “With the Omicron variant now detected in several regions of the world, putting in place travel bans that target Africa attacks global solidarity.”
However, numerous bans have been introduced in recent days, with Rwanda and Angola being among the African states to restrict flights to and from South Africa.
Omicron has now been detected in a number of countries around the world, including the UK, Germany, Australia and Israel.
