“Excellent science should be applauded, not punished”: South Africa

Pretoria: South Africa claims that it is being penalised rather than praised for finding Omicron, a potentially dangerous new variant of COVID-19.

South Africa Saturday said that it was being punished for its advanced ability to detect new Covid-19 variants early, like travel bans and restrictions imposed because the new Omicron variant threatens to harm tourism and other sectors of the economy.

According to preliminary reports, Omicron appears to have a higher risk of re-infection than other bacteria classes. 

The country is home to some of the world's best epidemiologists and scientists, who have been successful in detecting new COVID variations and mutations early in their life cycles.  

South Africa was the first place where this highly contagious variant was discovered, and it has subsequently been found in Belgium, Botswana, Israel, and Hong Kong.  

After unearthing the new variant, many nations rushed on Friday and Saturday to announce travel curbs to South Africa and other countries in the region.  

Along with South Africa, travel restrictions have been imposed on Botswana, Namibia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Eswatini, Malawi, Zambia, and Angola.

Although epidemiologists say travel curbs may be too late to stop the Omicron variant from circulating globally, many countries around the world - including the United States, Brazil, Canada and European Union nations - announced travel bans or restrictions on southern Africa.

“Excellent science should be applauded and not punished," said South Africa in a statement.

Earlier on Friday the World Health Organization (WHO) named it Omicron and designated it as a “variant of concern” - it’s most serious level - saying preliminary evidence suggests an increased risk of re-infection.

Many other countries followed suit, most of them indicating that only their own citizens would be allowed back, subject to a quarantine period.

Countries that imposed travel ban on South Africa include Mauritius, Israel, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, the US, Canada and the Netherlands. 

South Africa is the worst-affected country in Africa, with almost 2.95 million cases and 89,783 deaths.