Nov. 27, 2021 2:27 p.m.
Amid the concerns of governments around the world about the new “super mutated” Corona variant Omicron from South Africa, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro declared that the world and Brazil could “not cope with a new lockdown”.
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At a military ceremony in Rio de Janeiro on Friday, Bolsonaro spoke out against action, saying the restrictions would bring “misery – and misery kills too”. Bolsonaro has railed against the restrictions since the beginning of the Corona crisis and is currently not vaccinated against COVID-19. So far, no cases of the new variant have been found in Brazil.
Omicron is considered highly transferable, and numerous countries, including Germany, the United States, Russia, and Canada, have already restricted travel. Germany is classifying South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Mozambique, Eswatini, Malawi and Lesotho as “virus variant areas” from Sunday. Essentially, only German citizens or people resident in Germany from these eight countries will then be allowed to enter Germany. In addition, there is a two-week quarantine obligation, also for vaccinated and convalescent people.
The South African Minister of Health Dr. Joe Phaahla described this decision at a press conference on Friday as “unjustified”. He said that while the on-site scientists found changes in the composition of the virus, at no point did they claim that the variant was highly transmissible.
“I would like to emphasize at this point that our scientists never said that this virus was [Omicron] is highly transferable. They stressed that it is at a very early stage where it is not yet known exactly how the virus will develop, “said Phaahla. The tourism sector and political parties have also complained about the travel ban in South Africa.
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