{"id":1089934,"date":"2021-12-06T13:13:50","date_gmt":"2021-12-06T18:13:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1089934"},"modified":"2021-12-06T13:13:53","modified_gmt":"2021-12-06T18:13:53","slug":"ghana-joe-biden-travel-bans-make-africa-their-whipping-boy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ghana-joe-biden-travel-bans-make-africa-their-whipping-boy\/","title":{"rendered":"Ghana: Joe Biden Travel Bans Make &#039;Africa Their Whipping Boy&#039;"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fghana-joe-biden-travel-bans-make-africa-their-whipping-boy%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1089934&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p class=\"subheading\">An editorial in the government-owned newspaper&nbsp;<em>Ghanaian Times<\/em>&nbsp;published Monday accused President Joe Biden and other Western leaders of \u201cmak[ing] Africa their whipping boy\u201d by banning African travelers from entering their countries in response to the discovery of the \u201cOmicron\u201d variant of Chinese coronavirus.<\/p>\n<p>South African scientists first alerted the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) to the discovery of a new variant of Chinese coronavirus that appeared to have the potential to be highly contagious in late November. In response, several European nations imposed travel bans on South Africa and other southern African countries that remained in place even as the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2021\/11\/30\/1060025081\/omicron-variant-netherlands-europe-south-africa\">Netherlands<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aa.com.tr\/en\/latest-on-coronavirus-outbreak\/omicron-variant-was-in-belgium-weeks-earlier-than-it-was-announced-report\/2439987\">Belgium<\/a> later <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/africa\/2021\/12\/01\/nations-in-europe-africa-admit-they-had-omicron-cases-before-south-africa\/\">admitted<\/a> they had found Omicron cases within their borders before the first known case in South Africa.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>Biden <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2021\/11\/26\/joe-biden-enacts-african-travel-ban-despite-calling-racist-xenophobic-2020\/\">followed<\/a> the European nations with his own travel ban, issued while on vacation in the luxurious Massachusetts getaway of Nantucket. The ban prevents travelers from&nbsp;South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique, and Malawi from entering America.<\/p>\n<p>Biden had called similar travel bans in the early days of the pandemic, particularly the one President Donald Trump implemented against travelers from China in early 2020, a product of \u201chysteria, xenophobia, and fear-mongering.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\" readability=\"10.163043478261\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WHO?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@WHO<\/a> has identified a new COVID variant which is spreading through Southern Africa. As a precautionary measure until we have more information, I am ordering air travel restrictions from South Africa and seven other countries.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 President Biden (@POTUS) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/POTUS\/status\/1464317623156580352?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 26, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>The&nbsp;<em>Ghanaian Times<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanaiantimes.com.gh\/omicron-travel-bans-uncalled-for\/\">editorial<\/a>, published after Ghanaian President&nbsp;Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo issued his support to affected southern African countries while meeting South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, specifically defended the Trump-style bans in 2020 and condemned all \u201cWestern\u201d bans implemented in response to Omicron.<\/p>\n<p>Regarding early 2020, the editorial stated, \u201cthose were the days the virus that caused COVID-19 [Chinese coronavirus], SARS-CoV-2, was being studied, travel bans were unquestionably acceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Today, the editorial asserted, the travel bans highlight an alleged tendency in the Western world to blame Africa for global problems rather than addressing them. The bans, it continued, cast doubt on vocal assertions from public health experts in America and Europe that coronavirus vaccine products are effective.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe <em>Ghanaian Times<\/em> joins African leaders in condemning the travel bans and calls them a typical brush-off because the West and their cohorts always go for what favours them and do so against Africa,\u201d the editorial read.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThank God COVID-19 did not originate in Africa otherwise the West would isolate the whole of the continent but come for its raw materials without which their economies would not run.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\" readability=\"4.8484848484848\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Total Biden clown show <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Sip17QhAw1\">https:\/\/t.co\/Sip17QhAw1<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BreitbartNews\/status\/1354137149755502593?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 26, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cWere they not their own medical scientists who said vaccination had the efficacy to contain COVID-19 and all its variants?\u201d the editorial asked. \u201cWhy do the West and their cohorts make Africa their whipping boy in almost all bad situations that affect the world?\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThe West and their cohorts should rather check their ineffective handling of the pandemic underpinned by misplaced claims of human rights that has resulted in more cases and deaths than in Africa,\u201d it concluded.<\/p>\n<p>The&nbsp;<em>Ghanaian Times<\/em> writers also noted that African doctors with experience treating Omicron patients have repeatedly stated that, in their experience, the Omicron variant appears to cause less severe disease.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTheir symptoms were so different and so mild from those I had treated before,\u201d Dr. Angelique Coetzee, chair of the South African Medical Association, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/health\/2021\/11\/29\/south-african-doctor-who-raised-alarm-over-omicron-variant-symptoms-unusual-but-mild\/\">said<\/a> last month, describing them as extreme fatigue and fever.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B4\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cAlthough it\u2019s too early to make any definitive statements about it, thus far it does not look like there\u2019s a great degree of severity to it,\u201d American medical celebrity Anthony Fauci <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2021\/12\/06\/omicron-covid-variants-risk-profile-starts-to-emerge-with-early-data-.html\">asserted<\/a> about the Omicron variant this week.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"video-src-attr\">White House<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The&nbsp;<em>Ghanaian Times<\/em> editorial echoed the position of the government of Ghana. President&nbsp;Akufo-Addo similarly <a href=\"https:\/\/allafrica.com\/stories\/202112060293.html\">condemned<\/a> the Biden-style travel bans following welcoming Ramaphosa to the west African country on Sunday, asserting that Omicron \u201cwas recently sequenced and reported by South African scientists, was discovered much earlier in the Netherlands.\u201d At press time, no countries have imposed similar travel restrictions on the Netherlands.<\/p>\n<p>Akufo-Addo condemned the Biden bans as \u201cinstruments of immigration control\u201d using the pandemic to obscure their true objective.<\/p>\n<p>Ramaphosa used the opportunity of their joint press conference to reiterate his opposition to the travel bans, which he called \u201ca slap in the face\u201d given that South African scientists and doctors first identified and treated the variant, though proof now exists that European countries experienced Omicron infections first and failed to spot them.<\/p>\n<p>Ramaphosa again <a href=\"https:\/\/allafrica.com\/stories\/202112050040.html\">called<\/a> the travel bans \u201cunscientific and unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s no longer just located in Southern Africa. I am saying that those countries must adhere to what was agreed to at the G20, where it was agreed that we must open travel so that our economies can return to normal,\u201d Ramaphosa said. \u201cWhat we should be doing is[to] utilise the tools that we got to mitigate the virus. As people travel around the world, they mu.\u201d,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_18951362\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" readability=\"38\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/virus-outbreak-south-africa-variant-woman-reacts-receives-pfizer-jab-covid-19-diepsloot.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-18951362\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/virus-outbreak-south-africa-variant-woman-reacts-receives-pfizer-jab-covid-19-diepsloot.png\" alt=\"A young woman reacts as she receives a Pfizer jab against COVID-19, in Diepsloot Township near Johannesburg Thursday, Oct. 21, 2021. A new COVID-19 variant has been detected in South Africa that scientists say is a concern because of its high number of mutations and rapid spread among young people in Gauteng, the country&#039;s most populous province, Minister of Health Joe Phaahla announced Thursday, Nov. 25, 2021. (AP Photo\/Denis Farrell, File)\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>A young woman reacts as she receives a Pfizer jab against COVID-19, in Diepsloot Township near Johannesburg Thursday, Oct. 21, 2021. A new COVID-19 variant has been detected in South Africa that scientists say is a concern. (AP Photo\/Denis Farrell, File)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"story-body-text\" data-para-word-count=\"21\">\u201cThe imposition of travel bans on South Africa and a number of countries in the southern African region are regrettable, unfair and unscientific,\u201d Ramaphosa <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/africa\/2021\/12\/02\/african-presidents-unite-against-biden-travel-bans\/\">said<\/a> last week.<\/p>\n<p>Ramaphosa has received enthusiastic support from the United Nations, which has \u2013 both directly and through the World Health Organization, a U.N. agency \u2013 opposed travel bans generally as a way to contain the Chinese coronavirus since the pandemic began. Last week, U.N. Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres referred to the bans as \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/africa\/2021\/12\/02\/u-n-denounces-bidens-south-africa-ban-travel-apartheid\/\">travel apartheid<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"story-body-text\" data-para-word-count=\"21\">The director-general of the World Health Organization (W.H.O.), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said last week that the Biden-style bans <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/health\/2021\/12\/01\/w-h-o-head-tedros-biden-style-travel-bans-punish-africa-for-doing-the-right-thing\/\">meant<\/a> that South African scientists were&nbsp;\u201cbeing penalized by others for doing the right thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Follow Frances Martel on&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/francesimartel\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/francesimartel\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1638873290778000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1QA08tmz68EbJcjtJNaG7N\">Facebook<\/a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/francesmartel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/twitter.com\/francesmartel&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1638873290778000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2AlYai6qFSxqn18JB8Jmej\">Twitter.<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An editorial in the government-owned newspaper\u00a0Ghanaian Times\u00a0published Monday accused President Joe Biden and other Western leaders of \u201cmak[ing] Africa their whipping boy\u201d by banning African travelers from entering their countries &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1089934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1089934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1089934"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1089934\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1089934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1089934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1089934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}