South Africa on Saturday lamented the abrupt global travel bans and sweeping restrictions imposed on South African travellers due to the Omicron variant panic.
A statement issued by South Africa’s Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation, said that it was being punished for its advanced scientific ability that detected the new Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus with relatively much larger mutations that have since spread to Belgium, Botswana, Israel, Hong Kong, and until recently the UK.
It Accused the world of discrimination, adding that had any other country detected the first confirmed case of the Omicron variant, the global reaction “would have been starkly different.”
The statement read, “This latest round of travel bans is akin to punishing South Africa for its advanced genomic sequencing and the ability to detect new variants quicker”.
“Excellent science should be applauded and not punished. Had it been another country, global reaction ‘would have been starkly different”.
