UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd December, 2021) UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on the international community to avoid "travel apartheid" of African countries over the new Omicron variant of coronavirus.
"We have the instruments to have safe travel, let's use those instruments to avoid this kind of, allow me to say, travel apartheid, which I think is unacceptable," Guterres said in a press briefing.
The UN chief appealed to countries to consider testing for travelers which, he said, will allow for safe international traveling.
South Africa was the first country to identify Omicron on November 24 and notify other governments about the new strain.
A number of states, including the United States and the United Kingdom, in response announced travel restrictions on the southern African region.
Meanwhile, Guterres pointed out, the region has one of the lowest rates of vaccination with only 6% of the population in Africa being fully vaccinated.
"We have seen low vaccination rates combined with the deeply unequal access to vaccines creating a breeding ground for variants," Guterres said.
He said the people of Africa cannot be blamed for the "immorally" low level of vaccinations available to them and should not be "collectively punished" for sharing the data on Omicron with the rest of the world.
"With a virus that is truly borderless, travel restrictions that isolate one country or region are not only deeply unfair and punitive, they are ineffective," Guterres stated.
The World Health Organization (WHO) designated the new coronavirus strain, which was originally detected in South Africa, as a variant of concern during an emergency meeting last week. The WHO dubbed the new coronavirus strain B.1.1.529 Omicron, the 15th letter of the Greek alphabet.
