WHO called on countries not to ban travel from Africa – SME.sk

BRAZZAVILE. The director of the African branch of the World Health Organization (WHO) called on countries around the world on Sunday not to impose travel restrictions in an effort to limit the spread of the new coronavirus variant omicron.

The president made a similar appeal Of the Republic of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa, AFP reported.

“In a situation where the omicron variant has already been detected in various parts of the world, the introduction of travel bans affecting Africa is an attack on global solidarity,” said Matshidiso Moeti, director of the WHO African Region for Africa.

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She emphasized that any restrictions should be based on scientific knowledge and should not unnecessarily and disproportionately burden people’s lives, as in the case of travel bans, which at best slow the spread of the virus. Dozens of countries around the world have already adopted such restrictions in recent days.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has called on the world’s countries to “swiftly” lift the “unfair” and “scientifically unsubstantiated” travel bans they have adopted in recent days in response to the proliferation of a new, potentially more contagious omicron variant first detected in South Africa.

“We call on all states that have imposed travel bans on our country and our fraternal South African countries to lift them urgently so as not to further damage our economies,” Ramaphosa said in his first speech since last week’s announcement of the discovery of a new omicron variant.

According to the President of the Republic of South Africa, the travel ban is not in line with scientific knowledge.

“The only thing the travel bans have achieved is further damage to the economies of the affected countries, which will weaken their ability to cope with the pandemic and cope with its consequences,” Ramaphosa said, saying it remained the safest weapon in the fight against coronavirus vaccination, even after the discovery of a new variant of omicron.

Experts around the world are currently assessing the risks associated with omicron, which has an extremely large number of mutations. Some indications suggest that it could be more infectious than previous variants.

However, some doctors in South Africa report that people infected with omicron, who do not suffer from other diseases, have only mild symptoms. However, they fear complications in the elderly and unvaccinated.

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