Secretary-General U Antonio Guterres on Wednesday described the widespread travel bans imposed on southern African countries over concerns about the Omicron variant as “unacceptable,” like the restrictions. against the apartheid regime.
“As we have this virus everywhere, it is unacceptable to have a part of the world, one of the most vulnerable areas of the world economy, sentenced to lockdown, when they are the ones who reveal the existence of a new variant. That already exists in other parts of the world, by the way, including in Europe, as we know it,” Guterres said at a news conference in New York alongside African Union Commission President Moussa. Faki Mahamat.
“We have the tools to have a safe ride. Let’s use those tools to avoid this kind of, allow me to say, racist tourism, which I think is unacceptable,” Guterres added.
South African scientists discovered the Omicron variant last week. It was identified in a more and more countries including USA, with scientists in the Netherlands confirming it was present in their country even before South Africa announced it.
Also during Wednesday’s briefing, Faki Mahamat criticized the “stigmatization” against a large swath of the continent over the new variant.
He said: “For being transparent on the question of the new variant, Omicron, the entire southern African region has faced sanctions, especially for the possibility of blocking flights between the region and some nation.
US health officials have argued that the travel ban helps “what’s up?”
Vaccine solidarity: Guterres also called for a global plan to help African countries produce Covid-19 vaccines.
With only 6% of Africa’s population fully vaccinated, he said, the continent’s people cannot be blamed for the “unscrupulously low” level of vaccination against them.
“As we have seen, low vaccination rates – combined with deeply unequal access to vaccines – are creating a breeding ground for variants,” Guterres said.
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