South Africa Says It Has Been 'punished' Rather Than 'applauded' For Detecting The New Omicron Variant

A passenger looks at an electronic flight notice board displaying cancelled flights at Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg on November 27, 2021, after several countries banned flights from South Africa following the discovery of a new coronavirus variant Omicron.Phill Magakoe/Getty Images South Africa said it is being punished for detecting the new coronavirus variant Omicron. The US, UK, and Europe have introduced travel restrictions on southern African countries. "Excellent science should be applauded and not punished," the South African foreign ministry said. South Africa complained that it was being punished for detecting the new coronavirus strain Omicron after worldwide travel restrictions on flights from southern Africa were hurriedly introduced."Excellent science should be applauded and not punished," the South African foreign ministry said in a statement on Saturday, reported the BBC."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, it said.The World Health Organization labeled Omicron a coronavirus "variant of concern" on Friday.Researchers in South Africa detected the first known case on November 9 and reported the variant to the WHO on November 24.South Africa has some of the world's top epidemiologists and scientists, who have detected emerging coronavirus variants early in their life cycle, Reuters said.Over the weekend, several countries announced travel restrictions for travelers coming from southern African countries, including South Africa, Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia, the Seychelles, Malawi, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe.The US said it would restrict travel from the region, and European Union member states have also planned to ban flights from southern African countries.The UK, Canada, and Australia have also introduced restrictions.South African officials claimed that the country was facing unfair discrimination."The world should provide support to South Africa and Africa and not discriminate or isolate it," Professor Tulio de Oliveira, the director of the Centre for Epidemic Response and Innovation, said in a series of tweets.—Tulio de Oliveira (@Tuliodna) November 25, 2021 "We have been very transparent with scientific information.