The optics are terrible but there nonetheless. South Africa did the right thing by Omicron and we made them pay. What?
South Africa penalized?
It seems that the COVID Omicron variant was first detected in the Netherlands. Reuters reported the following.
AMSTERDAM, Nov 30 (Reuters) – The COVID-19 Omicron variant was detected in the Netherlands before two flights arrived from South Africa last week carrying the virus, Dutch health officials said on Tuesday. At least 14 people on flights from Johannesburg and Capetown arrived at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport on Nov. 26 carrying the new variant, the National Institute for Public Health (RIVM) said.
“We have found the Omicron coronavirus variant in two test samples that were taken on Nov. 19 and Nov. 23,” the RIVM said. “It is not clear yet whether these people have visited Southern Africa.” Dutch authorities are also seeking to contact and test some 5,000 other passengers who have travelled from South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia or Zimbabwe.
So, why is there a travel ban on Southern African countries and not on the Netherlands? One wonders why we were this quick in jumping to conclusion. It is time to reverse this decision.
