“We condemn & challenge the travel measures that have no basis in science nor common sense. To condemn a country because its scientists alerted the world of the prevalence of a new variant is immoral. In the face of a common enemy, the life of a human being should be the same,” Mahamat said.

“We have told UN agencies that there is no scientific basis for these travel bans, it has been found that this variant was circulating in Europe before it was identified in South Africa, we are doing all we can to get the countries to lift this travel ban,” he added.

The variant was first reported to the WHO from South Africa on November 24, based on samples that had been collected from 14 to 16 November. South African scientists were first alerted by a sudden increase of COVID-19 cases in Gauteng, with more than 70 percent of samples collected between 14 and 23 November being the new variant.

On 26 November, WHO advised countries not to impose new restrictions on travel, instead recommending a “risk-based and scientific” approach to travel measures. On the same day, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) reported modeling indicating that strict travel restrictions would delay the variant's impact on European countries by two weeks, possibly allowing countries to prepare for it.

After the WHO announcement, on the same day, several countries announced travel bans from southern Africa in response to the identification of the variant, including the United States, which banned travel from eight African countries, although it notably did not ban travel from any European countries, Israel, Canada, or Australia where cases were also detected at the time the bans were announced. Other countries that also implemented travel bans include Japan, Canada, the European Union, israel, Australia, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Morocco, and New Zealand. (ILKHA)