(Brazzaville) The World Health Organization (WHO) called on Sunday “that the borders remain open”, as travel restrictions to African countries multiply in the face of the spread of the new variant of the coronavirus, Omicron, in the whole world.
“WHO stands alongside African countries and calls for borders to remain open,” the organization said in a statement, calling on countries to “adopt a scientific approach”, based on “the assessment of risks ”.
“It is crucial that countries that are transparent with their data are supported, as this is the only way to ensure that we receive important data in a timely manner,” urges the WHO.
These measures to ban flights, which impact the economy and tourism, could deter countries in the future from reporting the discovery of future variants for fear of finding themselves sanctioned, said the South African health authorities, who had alerted to the existence of this variant in their country.
Since then, many countries, especially Europeans, have banned flights from southern African countries. On Friday, the United States, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates also closed their borders to nationals of countries in this region of Africa.
Angola is the first African country to decide to ban flights to and from South Africa.
First reported by South Africa on November 24, the new variant of the coronavirus called “Omicron” was deemed “worrying” by the WHO. It would present an increased risk of contagion compared to other variants including Delta, dominant and already very contagious.