The President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, has condemned Western countries for quickly closing down their borders following the latest Omicron coronavirus outbreak.
Britain imposed border closure in response to the recent emergence of the Omicron variant of Covid in South Africa.
So far, scientists have detected a few cases of the new Omicron variant, majorly in South Africa. It has also been discovered in Botswana, Hong Kong, and Israel. But they are majorly concerned by Omicron’s high number of mutations which raised concerns that the variant could be more vaccine-resistant and transmissible.
South African authorities are angry over the British ban on flights from southern African countries. Other countries like Israel have followed suit.
A lot of South Africans feel they are being dealt with for their transparency and hard work in monitoring the way the virus is mutating.
The President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa said for now, authorities would not be considering economic lockdown restrictions. He also condemn rich Western countries for their quick imposition of travel bans after they heard about the new variant.
Ramaphosa said: “This is a clear and completely unjustified departure from the commitment that many of these countries made at the meeting of G20 countries in Rome last month.
“The prohibition of travel is not informed by science, nor will it be effective in preventing the spread of this variant.
“The only thing [it] will do is to further damage the economies of the affected countries and undermine their ability to respond to the pandemic.”
Also, Ramaphosa said that compulsory Covid vaccination is being considered by the government after agreeing that his country was entering a fourth wave of the pandemic.
He said: “If cases continue to climb, we can expect to enter a fourth wave of infections within the next few weeks, if not sooner.”
The Omicron variant was first identified in South Africa but has been detected in Hong Kong, Belgium, and the Netherlands.
