Letters

Omicron is not the 'South Africa virus'

LETTERS: The headline for the article on page 2 of the Nov 27 edition of the New Straits Times is false, misleading, and frankly discriminatory and stigmatising.

The new Omicron variant of the Covid-19 virus is not the "South Africa virus".

It is the variant that was found, sequenced and reported by South African virologists and epidemiologists, acknowledged globally as world-class.

The origins of the variant are at this stage unknown.

Currently, cases of the Omicron variant have been reported in over 20 countries, from the United Kingdom, through many European countries to Hong Kong and Australia.

Yet, the focus of reporting and travel bans is on certain Southern African countries only. However, not all the cases in Europe are linked to a Southern African travel history.

Furthermore, evidence is emerging from the Netherlands that the variant was already in Europe at least a week before South Africa reported it. Why are bans only imposed on a few African countries? This is clear discrimination.

The travel bans are akin to punishing South Africa for its advanced genomic sequencing capacity and ability to detect and report new variants quickly. Excellent science should be applauded, not punished. The global community needs collaboration and partnerships in the management of the pandemic, not isolation.

It is unfortunate that our efforts to warn the world have been rewarded with travel restrictions. This provides a strong disincentive for any future reporting by countries detecting new variants.

Variants have emerged on all the continents to date, from Brazil to the United States, the UK and India. They will continue to emerge so long as vaccine hoarding and inequality persist.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has stated that he is deeply concerned about the isolation of Southern African countries: "The people of Africa cannot be blamed for the immorally low level of vaccinations available in Africa — and they should not be penalised for identifying and sharing crucial science and health information with the world."

He concludes: "I appeal to all governments to consider repeated testing for travellers, together with other appropriate and truly effective measures, with the objective of avoiding the risk of transmission, so as to allow for travel and economic engagement."

The World Health Organisation has pleaded with world leaders not to engage in knee-jerk reactions and has cautioned against the imposition of travel restrictions. It has called on countries to rather adopt a risk-based and scientific approach.

President Ramaphosa of South Africa has said: "These restrictions are unjustified and unfairly discriminate against our country and our Southern African sister countries.

"The prohibition of travel is not informed by science, nor will it be effective in preventing the spread of this variant.

"The only thing the prohibition on travel will do is to further damage the economies of the affected countries and undermine their ability to respond to, and recover from, the pandemic.

"We call upon all those countries that have imposed travel bans on our country and our Southern African sister countries to urgently reverse their decisions and lift the ban... before any further damage is done to our economies and to the livelihoods of our people."


DAVE MALCOMSON

High Commissioner of South Africa to Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur

The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times

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