World News | Police Investigate Threats Against S African COVID Researchers; Security Beefed Up

Johannesburg, December 12 (PTI) The South African police agencies are investigating threats against leading COVID-19 researchers, including the team which first identified the Omicron variant of the disease.

National Spokesman of the South African Police Services, Vishnu Naidoo told the Sunday Times that a case of intimidation is being investigated after the office of President Cyril Ramaphosa received a threatening letter in which several leading COVID-19 researchers were mentioned, including Prof Tulio de Oliveira, who led the team that announced the discovery of the Omicron variant that is causing worldwide havoc.

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"The matter was brought to our attention about a week ago. This case has been prioritised, given that the complainants are advisers to the National Corona Command Council," Naidoo told the weekly.

Presidency Spokesperson Tyrone Seale did not divulge the contents of the letter but said it was headed ‘Warning' , which led to it being referred “to the relevant authorities in view of the important contributions of scientists and related advisors to the national effort against COVID-19.”

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Stellenbosch University, where De Oliveira works, said it has tightened security.

“It is deplorable that scientists, who view it as their scientific and ethical duty to make findings known, are now the ones being targeted,” said university Spokesperson Martin Viljoen.

De Oliveira has come under fire on social media for announcing the discovery of the Omicron variant, which led to immediate travel bans by the UK and US within hours, causing irreparable harm to South Africa's tourist sector in the peak of Christmas-New Year season, as almost 20 other countries followed suit within days.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has been vociferous in declaring the travel ban discriminatory.

De Oliveira, as well as the head of the South African Medical Research Council, Dr Glenda Gray, who was also mentioned in the letter, did not respond to queries from the weekly, but several other researchers confirmed being threatened or harassed.

Prof Keymanthri Moodley, head of the Centre for Medical Ethics at Stellenbosch University's medical faculty, said she had received hateful comments but that no amount of abuse would deter her from her task.

Prof Jackie Hoare, head of psychiatry at Groote Schuur hospital in Cape Town, said she and many colleagues who were advocating vaccination had been abused and threatened, with some suffering mental health problems.

Hoare said the assault on scientists and frontline workers in the pandemic had “escalated exponentially”.

Medico-legal consultant Dr Volker Hizeroth told the weekly that the abuse was an added source of anxiety at “the worst possible time.”

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)