Prognosis
South Africa Punished for ‘Wrong Reasons’ Over Covid Variant
- Health minister Phaahla says travel bans are unjustified
- Variant was announced by South African scientists on Thursday
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South Africa’s Health Minister Joe Phaahla said the travel bans imposed on the country, particularly by countries in the European Union, following the discovery of a new Covid-19 variant in the country are “unjustified.”
The travel bans “are completely against the norms and standards” advised on by the World Health Organization, he said on an online press conference on Friday. “That kind of action is knee-jerk and panic...It is a risk to disclose what you have found,” he said, adding that his country is being “scapegoated.”