Travel bans
B.1.1.529
Omicron
We recently travelled back to the Mother City.
Just over two weeks later, some of South Africa’s top scientists shared information about a Coronavirus variant, with the W.H.O.
What did the world do? All the European nations, then U.S.A, imposed a flight ban to six Southern African nations. Other nations followed.
Was this fair?
Did the same countries impose a flight ban to Belgium, Hong Kong and the U.K, where other cases of this new variant have been found? Of course not.
One wonders, why are Southern African nations treated differently?
The W.H.O have said clearly that they have not made any recommendations to impose flight bans.
The mainstream media is not helping things either, with dubious and at times reckless reporting, that suggests that the variant started in South Africa.
Here’s what many people will not know. South Africa has one of the most advanced infectious diseases infrastructure in the world. Many of the world’s leading epidemiologists work in South Africa, and previously developed treatments for TB and HIV.
And yet some members of mainstream media will sloppily report, using headlines like “New COVID variant in South Africa”. And mainstream thinkers will simply believe the stereotypes.
I watched a news story, an interview with David Navarro, from the W.H.O in Geneva:
“In the W.H.O there is absolute gratitude to scientists in South Africa for the speed with which they’ve characterised this virus and for their transparency and openness, in telling the rest of the world about it. Of course they are facing a backlash in South Africa, because there are some locally who are saying, that by talking about this, that’s led to immediate actions against South Africa and other Southern African countries, that feel like punishment….it is totally wrong that there is vilification of the South African scientists who have done the work”
The impact of the ban on tourism in Southern Africa will be enormous at this time of year, immediately before the peak, summer season. So many businesses depend on tourism for a significant amount of their income. No-one gave a second thought to the human cost of these decisions, on livelihoods and on families.
In addition, so many families would have made plans to be re-united in Southern Africa this Christmas. For some it will have been their first meeting since Christmas of 2019, before the virus took hold across the world. Now their wish for a family Christmas together is in tatters.
The world’s travellers got moving again this year, thanks to vaccines and PCR tests. The return to flight bans seems like a massive backward step, after so many were saying “we need to learn to live with the virus”.
So what’s next?
Israel has introduced a flight ban on foreigners, closing their borders to all visitors for the next fortnight.
Will we go back to further flight bans, lockdowns and restrictions around the world?
And what will travel look like, as we go into the new year?
© Maggie M / Mother City Time