How Canada changed its position on pandemic travel bans

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa chose the perfect venue Tuesday to make the argument that a travel ban imposed on his country is both "unscientific" and "discriminatory."

He made the remarks — which he tweeted out to the world — on board a government jet about to depart for a tour of Nigeria, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana and Senegal.

"We have come out in total rejection of these bans that have been imposed on southern Africa, and we are insisting that they be lifted," said Ramaphosa.

"We have advanced as a world to a point where we now know that when people travel they should be tested, like I was tested last night, and I'm happy to be tested when I arrive again. We've got the tools, we've got the means to be able to deal with this."

But even African solidarity was strained by the news of the omicron variant, as Rwanda joined the list of countries that have temporarily banned travelers from southern Africa.

Canada was quick to join that list, prompting complaints from Canadians with South African ties. On Tuesday, it added Nigeria, Malawi and Egypt to the roster of countries it has placed under travel restrictions.

The U.S., U.K. and EU countries also placed eight African countries under a travel ban — even as some of their leaders congratulated South Africa for its "rapid genomic sequencing and leadership in transparently sharing scientific data".

G7 health ministers also issued a joint statement that "praised the exemplary work of South Africa in both detecting the variant and alerting others to it." But all seven countries imposed measures that limit the ability of South Africans and others from the region to move around the world.

The measures will undermine the tourism industry in the region. While tourism makes up only 3 per cent of South Africa's GDP, it accounts for more than 10 per cent of national income for Egypt, Botswana and Namibia.

The Trudeau government — following the lead of the World Health Organization — publicly opposed travel bans at the beginning of the pandemic. Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam herself denounced the idea of stopping travellers at the time.

"The WHO advises against any kind of travel and trade restrictions, saying that they are inappropriate and could actually cause more harm than good in terms of our global effort to contain," Tam cautioned on Feb. 3, 2020.

"Canadians think we can stop this at the border," Health Minister Patty Hajdu added on March 13, 2020. "But what we see is a global pandemic, which means that border measures are highly ineffective and, in some cases, can create harm."

But as public anger mounted over China's lack of transparency in the early stages of the pandemic, so did suspicions about the WHO's advice — a global health agency accused by some in the West of being too much under Beijing's influence.

China itself loudly opposed travel bans back when it was seen as the epicentre of the pandemic. Beijing has since imposed one of the strictest entry policies in the world — cancelling all visas issued prior to March 28, 2020 and refusing to issue new ones except in very limited cases.