South African President Cyril Ramaphosa called for the lifting of air travel bans due to a new strain 
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa called on world leaders restricted air traffic with South Africa due to the omicron strain, lift the bans. He stated this in his address to the nation, RIA Novosti reports.
“We are very disappointed with the decision of some countries to ban travel from a number of southern African states after the omicron option was identified. This is a clear and completely unjustified departure from the commitments that many of these countries made at the G20 meeting in Rome, ”Ramaphosa said. He added that he calls on all countries to urgently lift these bans.
According to the South African leader, there is no scientific evidence that the restrictions will help prevent the spread of the new strain, but they will definitely harm the economy and “undermine” all efforts made to recover from the coronavirus pandemic. The President clarified that bans on air travel were introduced by Britain, the United States, members of the European Union, Arab countries and a number of other states.
A new strain of coronavirus B.1.1.529 or omicron was found in Botswana, South Africa and Hong Kong. It is assumed that it can become the most dangerous variant of infection.