Omicron is in town

RECENTLY, scientists in Botswana and South Africa alerted the world to a fast-spreading SARS-CoV-2 variant now known as Omicron. Information about the new strain of COVID-19, now confirmed in more than 20 countries, is still not yet definitive, but its onset has already sparked off a sub-text of racism. Among other unfortunate developments, the German newspaper, Rheinpfal, ran with the headline, “The virus from Africa is with us”, while the Spanish newspaper, Tribuna Albacete, published a cartoon depicting black Africans taking Omicron to Europe by boat. According to unverified information circulating on social media, the COVID-Omicron virus is five times more toxic than the Delta variant and with a higher mortality rate. However, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), researchers in South Africa and around the world are still conducting studies to better understand many aspects of Omicron, and would continue to share the findings of these studies as they become available. The agency says that it is not yet clear whether Omicron is more easily spread from person to person compared to other variants, including Delta, and whether infection with Omicron causes more severe diseases compared to infections with other variants.

Although it notes that preliminary data suggests increasing rates of hospitalisation in South Africa, the WHO says that this may be due to increasing overall numbers of people becoming infected rather than a result of specific infection with Omicron.  It therefore submits that there is currently no information to suggest that symptoms associated with Omicron are different from those from other variants. Nevertheless, the development has sparked diplomatic rows as countries seek to contain the virus. For instance, the Nigerian government has responded very strongly to the British government’s placement of Nigeria on its travel red list, banning travellers from Nigeria while requiring arrivals from other countries to quarantine for 11 nights in a government-approved hotel at a cost up to £2,285 regardless of their vaccination status. Nigeria’s High Commissioner to the UK, Sarafa Tunji Isola, described the UK’s decision as a “travel apartheid.” He said: “Nigeria is actually aligned with the position of the UN Secretary General that the travel ban is apartheid, in the sense that we’re not dealing with an endemic situation. We are dealing with a pandemic situation and what is expected is a global, not selective, approach.” Isola added that Omicron “is classified as a mild variant, with no hospitalisation and no death.”

And while the UK Minister for Policing, Kit Malthouse, said the phrase “travel apartheid” was “very unfortunate language,” as the country was only trying to buy a little bit of time so that its scientists could work on the virus and assess how difficult it was going to be to cope with the virus, the Federal Government, speaking through the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, took no prisoners. Mohammed said: “The decision by the British government to put Nigeria on the red list just because of less than two dozen cases of Omicron which, by the way, did not originate in Nigeria, is unjust, unfair, punitive, indefensible and discriminatory.”

If developments since the onset of Omicron are any indication, it is clear that Africa is still seen as an unequal partner by the West. It is disturbing that while researchers in Botswana and South Africa sought to save lives by studying and describing the Omicron virus which had been previously reported elsewhere, Africa as a whole has been the target of racist and clearly discriminatory measures and publications. If anything, we are in agreement with the Federal Government’s position on the UK’s patently unfair treatment of Nigeria and Nigerians. There is simply no reason for banning flights from Nigeria while travellers to Britain from other countries will be allowed into the country to quarantine and test for the virus. It is also true that the ban on African countries is a knee-jerk reaction which is capable of affecting efforts to control the virus on the continent and the world as a whole.

Nevertheless, since a new strain of the coronavirus is in town seeking whom to devour, Nigerians are duty-bound to take every reasonable measure to keep safe. As a Nigerian proverb says, the nail cannot cease hosting blood when lice is still present in one’s clothes. It would be wise for Nigerians to abide by the COVID-19 protocol as rolled out and updated by the government from time to time. It is true that Nigerians are no longer excited about the protocol primarily because the government has failed in eliciting confidence in the statistics being bandied by its agencies, but it is also true that prevention is better than cure. In this regard, we align with the statement by the private sector-led Coalition Against COVID-19 (CACOVID) urging Nigerians to get vaccinated in order to protect themselves from the latest reported outbreak of the virus.  Already, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has confirmed six cases of Omicron in the country. As noted by CACOVID, vaccines are effective and can reduce the risk of getting and spreading the virus. Nigerians therefore need to keep taking preventative measures such as frequent handwashing, wearing a face mask in indoor and outdoor public places, and maintaining social distance.

On their part, the federal and state governments should scale up their vaccination efforts. Enforcing vaccination among civil servants while the rest of society remains largely unvaccinated cannot deliver the expected results.