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And https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-59453842 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-59453842 where ‘[SA president] Cyril Ramaphosa said he was "deeply

by evgen 5y ago

And https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-59453842 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-59453842 where ‘[SA president] Cyril Ramaphosa said he was "deeply disappointed" by the action, which he described as unjustified, and called for the bans to be urgently lifted.’ Your country has a very low vaccination rate and you are ground zero for a new variant, but feel the need to be “deeply disappointed” that others trying to slow the spread slightly may impact your tourism industry…

tpmx 5y ago
Also note that the low vaccination rate in SA is not due to a lack of vaccine availability. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/exclusive-south-africa-delays-covid-vaccine-deliveries-inoculations-slow-2021-11-24/ https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/exclusive-south-africa-...
lkbm 5y ago
Ground Zero was Botswana[0]. South Africa is the country leading the research and monitoring because they have an exceptionally strong epidemiological community and facilities. (And, yes, a very low vaccination rate.) [0] https://www.dw.com/en/covid-what-we-know-about-the-omicron-variant/a-59948143 https://www.dw.com/en/covid-what-we-know-about-the-omicron-v...
- jsnell 5y ago
  So, the thing with Botswana is actually interesting, because those first cases were found in foreign diplomats who were visiting for a short time. Such a short time, that they probably could not have picked up the infection in the country, but had imported it: https://africatimes.com/2021/11/28/botswana-says-covid-variant-found-in-visiting-diplomats-but-from-where/ https://africatimes.com/2021/11/28/botswana-says-covid-varia... So the ground zero is somewhere else, and we just don't know yet.
ajmurmann 5y ago
Since this was first detected in Botswana, we don't know where ground zero is. What we do know is that countries with good detection systems get punished and that such travel plans always have come way after the cat is out of the bag anyways.
- tpmx 5y ago
  Botswana got hit by both the EU and the US travel restrictions as well.

by evgen 5y ago

tpmx 5y ago

Also note that the low vaccination rate in SA is not due to a lack of vaccine availability. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/exclusive-south-africa-delays-covid-vaccine-deliveries-inoculations-slow-2021-11-24/ https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/exclusive-south-africa-...

lkbm 5y ago

Ground Zero was Botswana[0]. South Africa is the country leading the research and monitoring because they have an exceptionally strong epidemiological community and facilities. (And, yes, a very low vaccination rate.) [0] https://www.dw.com/en/covid-what-we-know-about-the-omicron-variant/a-59948143 https://www.dw.com/en/covid-what-we-know-about-the-omicron-v...

jsnell 5y ago
So, the thing with Botswana is actually interesting, because those first cases were found in foreign diplomats who were visiting for a short time. Such a short time, that they probably could not have picked up the infection in the country, but had imported it: https://africatimes.com/2021/11/28/botswana-says-covid-variant-found-in-visiting-diplomats-but-from-where/ https://africatimes.com/2021/11/28/botswana-says-covid-varia... So the ground zero is somewhere else, and we just don't know yet.

ajmurmann 5y ago

Since this was first detected in Botswana, we don't know where ground zero is. What we do know is that countries with good detection systems get punished and that such travel plans always have come way after the cat is out of the bag anyways.

tpmx 5y ago
Botswana got hit by both the EU and the US travel restrictions as well.