(Johannesburg) South Africa, where the new variant of COVID-19 dubbed Omicron was detected, on Monday deemed “sad” and “regrettable” that some African countries are following the wind of panic and imposing travel restrictions on the continent.
The announcement Thursday by scientists who detected the variant in the southern African country provoked the reaction of many countries such as France, the United States or the Philippines which, in a few hours, decided to ban on their territory for travelers from southern Africa.
“It is quite unfortunate, unfortunate, and I would even say sad that African countries have imposed travel restrictions,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Clayson Monyela said at a press conference in line organized by the Ministry of Health.
In Africa, Angola, Mauritius, Rwanda and Seychelles have halted flights from South Africa.
“What I do not understand is that some of the African countries that do this are experiencing the difficulties for the continent when European countries make such a decision,” said Monyela.
South Africa fears consequences on its economy and in particular tourism.
These restrictions “must be lifted immediately,” he continued, recalling that South Africa recently made “substantial donations” of vaccines to some of the countries that currently impose flight bans.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa demanded the day before the “immediate and urgent lifting” of these measures, deeming them devoid of “scientific justification”.
Many uncertainties still hover over the dangerousness and transmissibility of the variant with multiple mutations. But scientists are already worried that it is extremely contagious and eludes parts of the immune system.
South Africa has already seen an increase in contamination and hospitalizations in recent weeks. Almost three quarters of recently reported cases are due to the Omicron variant.
African country officially the most affected by the pandemic, South Africa has more than 2.9 million cases and nearly 89,800 deaths. Only 23.8% of South Africans are fully vaccinated, more than elsewhere in Africa, but far behind the rest of the world.