WHO criticizes travel bans on southern African countries

JOHANNESBURG – The World Health Organization connected Sunday urged countries astir the satellite not to enforce formation bans connected confederate African nations owed to concerns implicit the caller omicron variant.

WHO's determination manager for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti, called connected countries to travel subject and planetary wellness regulations successful bid to debar utilizing question restrictions.

“Travel restrictions whitethorn play a relation successful somewhat reducing the dispersed of COVID-19 but spot a dense load connected lives and livelihoods,” Moeti said successful a statement. “If restrictions are implemented, they should not beryllium unnecessarily invasive oregon intrusive, and should beryllium scientifically based, according to the International Health Regulations, which is simply a legally binding instrumentality of planetary instrumentality recognized by implicit 190 nations.”

Moeti praised South Africa for pursuing planetary wellness regulations and informing WHO arsenic soon arsenic its nationalist laboratory identified the omicron variant.

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“The velocity and transparency of the South African and Botswana governments successful informing the satellite of the caller variant is to beryllium commended," said Moeti. "WHO stands with African countries which had the courageousness to boldly stock life-saving nationalist wellness information, helping support the satellite against the dispersed of COVID-19.”

Cases of the omicron variant of the coronavirus popped up successful countries connected other sides of the satellite Sunday and galore governments rushed to adjacent their borders adjacent arsenic scientists cautioned that it’s not wide if the caller variant is much alarming than different versions of the virus.

While investigations proceed into the omicron variant, WHO recommends that each countries “take a risk-based and technological attack and enactment successful spot measures which tin bounds its imaginable spread.”

Dr. Francis Collins, manager of the National Institutes of Health successful the United States, emphasized that determination is nary information yet that suggests the caller variant causes much superior unwellness than erstwhile COVID-19 variants.

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“I bash deliberation it’s much contagious, erstwhile you look astatine however rapidly it dispersed done aggregate districts successful South Africa,” Collins said connected CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Israel decided to barroom introduction to foreigners, and Morocco said it would suspend each incoming flights for 2 weeks starting Monday — among the astir drastic of a increasing raft of question curbs being imposed arsenic nations scrambled to dilatory the variant’s spread. Scientists successful respective places — from Hong Kong to Europe — person confirmed its presence. The Netherlands reported 13 omicron cases connected Sunday, and Australia recovered two.

The U.S. plans to prohibition question from South Africa and 7 different confederate African countries starting Monday.

“With the omicron variant present detected successful respective regions of the world, putting successful spot question bans that people Africa attacks planetary solidarity," said Moeti. “COVID-19 perpetually exploits our divisions. We volition lone get the amended of the microorganism if we enactment unneurotic for solutions.”

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WHO said it scaling up its enactment for genomic sequencing successful Africa truthful sequencing laboratories person entree to capable quality resources and investigating reagents to enactment astatine afloat capacity. WHO besides said is acceptable to connection further help, reinforcing COVID-19 responses including surveillance, treatment, corruption prevention and assemblage engagement successful confederate African countries, it said.

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