The African Union (AU) says the current evidence on the global spread and community transmission of the Omicron Covid-19 variant does not support the travel bans imposed on some African countries.
The AU said the current travel and entry bans, which limit the free movement of people and goods, have an immediate and significant negative impact in Africa.
It accordingly called for the urgent rescinding of selective travel bans imposed on its member states and asked for international efforts to increase vaccination coverage in Africa.
South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) announced on 25 November it had detected a new Covid-19 variant said to be more infectious.
It was officially labelled as B.1.1.529 and the World Health Organisation (WHO) christened it the ‘Omicron’ variant.
However, hours after the detection of the variant, Western countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, and Germany, imposed flight bans on South Africa and six of its neighbours where the variant had been detected.
Nigeria, a West African country, is the latest AU member state to be slapped with flight bans by the United Kingdom and Canada.
‘In response to detection of the Omicron variant, a number of countries have imposed immediate travel bans as a precautionary measure. However, despite the widespread distribution of Omicron cases globally, the majority of border closures solely target flights to and from South Africa and neighbouring countries in Southern Africa, some of which have no evidence of the Omicron variant and relatively low daily [Covid-19] case numbers’, an AU statement read.
‘These travel and entry bans, which limit the free movement of people and goods, have an immediate and significant negative impact in the region as they lead to adverse impact on the economy which will negatively affect the lives and livelihoods of populations concerned, limited capacity to access essential medical supplies needed to respond to the ongoing upsurge of cases in South Africa’.
The AU said that the travel bans had ‘limited the capacity for Southern African researchers and scientists to access the reagents needed to monitor spread of the Omicron variant and to investigate and characterise its impact on transmissibility, disease severity and possible evasion from vaccines’.
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) had cautioned countries across the world against imposing quick travel bans on travellers from Africa following the detection of the Omicron variant.
WHO declared the new Covid-19 variant one of concern, but did not recommend lockdowns. Instead, the global health body recommended more field investigations, enhanced vaccinations and full adherence to public health guidelines.
The Secretary General of the United Nations (UN), António Guterres, and the President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina, have also spoken out against the travel bans.
Source: African Union
Photo source: AFP
