South Africa Criticizes Travel Bans Due to Omicron Strain

South Africa's Health Minister Joe Phaahla criticized the travel restrictions imposed on southern African countries due to the spread of the Omicron Novel Coronavirus variant.

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Travel restrictions were imposed by the United Kingdom, Israel, the European Union, the United States, Australia, Morocco, among other countries, following the announcement of the presence of the variant in South Africa.

President Cyril Ramaphosa lamented the unwillingness of other countries to engage in dialogue while warning over serious effects that the fear and the bans will have on Southafrican economy, especially on the tourism sector. 

"This latest round of travel bans is like punishing South Africa for its advanced genomic sequencing and ability to detect variants faster. Excellent science should be applauded, not punished," the South African Foreign Ministry stated.

Omicron Novel Coronavirus variant was first reported to the World Health Organization (W.H.O) on Nov. 24.

So far, travel bans affect Zimbabwe, Namibia, Mozambique, Malawi, Lesotho, Eswatini and Botswana, and South Africa.

Cases of the new omicron COVID-19 variant have been discovered in Germany, the UK, Italy, and the Netherlands.

Previously known as B.1.1.529,  the strain was also identified in Belgium, Hong Kong, and Israel.