The United States on Saturday lauded South Africa for quickly identifying the Omicron variant of the coronavirus and for sharing the information with the rest of the world, taking an indirect dig at China where
the pandemic first broke out in late 2019.

Also Read: What is Omicron?

In
a virtual meeting with South Africa’s international relations and cooperation
minister Naledi Pandor, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken conveyed his message to the scientists, AFP reported. Blinken and
Pandor also discussed cooperation between the US and South Africa in
inoculating people of the Africa continent against COVID-19.

“Secretary Blinken specifically
praised South Africa’s scientists for the quick identification of the Omicron
variant and South Africa’s government for its transparency in sharing this
information, which should serve as a model for the world,” the statement
said.

On Thursday, Tulio de Oliveira, Director of
South Africa’s Centre for Epidemic Response and Innovation, in a series of
tweets disclosed the nature of the new variant of coronavirus that was first
detected in Pretoria. Since South Africa revealed the emergence of the new variant of the coronavirus, countries across the world started imposing travel
restrictions on the country.

US accused China of hiding crucial information

The US has repeatedly criticised China for
not disclosing the origins of the coronavirus, which was first detected in
December 2019 in Wuhan, a city in China’s Hubei province, before spreading
around the world. It has now killed nearly 5.2 million people.

In August this year, the US released a
report in which it said it could not ascertain the origin of the virus as China
had not helped in its investigation. 

The US, where 7.77 lakh people died of
coronavirus, has accused Beijing of hiding the information of the outbreak,
saying that a more transparent handling could have equipped countries across
the world to curb the spread of the virus at the earliest.

Also Read: Jair Bolsonaro non-committal on travel curbs amid Omicron variant concerns

US President Joe Biden, since coming to the
power, accused Beijing of delaying the release of crucial information related
to coronavirus.

“The world deserves answers, and I
will not rest until we get them,” Biden said in a statement after that
unclassified report came out.

“Responsible nations do not shirk
these kinds of responsibilities to the rest of the world,” Biden said, taking
an indirect dig at China.