Thread by @HsiaoMarvin

I tweeted this yesterday literally hangry and waiting for my takeaway food. Time for a more considered thread on discrimination, failures, empathy and way forward. 1/n

https://twitter.com/HsiaoMarvin/status/1467452205355704320

First let's just get this out of the way. I nearly threw my phone when I saw this. Everyone needs to call out this kind of racist, discriminatory BS for what it really is. No one here thinks it's clever or funny. 2/n

https://twitter.com/sridhartweet/status/1467160536936812554

The biggest failure around our response to #omicron is the #travelbans. The cancelled flights are hugely disruptive to the supply chain in southern Africa. 3/n

This is like getting out of your car to watch a fire. Sure you get a better view of the unfolding drama in this wait-and-see scenario, but you are blocking the fire truck that might stop the fire burn down the whole block. 4/n

The impact on tourism and the image of our country amounts to huge economic loss to many countries in the region, the precious livelihood that is lost in our economy batter by #COVID19. 5/n

https://twitter.com/SouthAfricanASP/status/1464649222708420626?s=20

The futility of keeping omicron out aside, can we just acknowledge there are undetected variants lurking in every country with community transmission. Many of these countries have so many cases they don't know what's going on in their own backyard. 6/n

https://twitter.com/_b_meyer/status/1465620854067322880?s=20

What's happening in southern Africa worries me and it should worry you too. Not just because omicron will eventually take root everywhere (and I think it will), but behind this graph, there are real people affected. 7/n

https://twitter.com/rid1tweets/status/1467597356061401089?s=20

Let's put the severity issue aside because I think it is too early to say "mild". With the rapidly escalating case numbers, hospitals and essential services will be heavily impacted. Imagine a third of the workforce taking sick leave at the same time. 8/n

Each wave of COVID-19 in South Africa (and most countries) we had to endure economic losses from #lockdown or some form of restrictions. But even in their absence, the illness and emotional impact takes its toll on all of us. 9/n

We need to empathise with countries struggling with the pandemic, instead of dismissing it as a mild variant with very few people dying. Don't let the 5 million + death in the pandemic so far numb you. 10/n

Here I have to say the people who responded to my original post saying that they do care helps. A lot. Thank you for not being the silent and indifferent majority. 11/n

As for what we need going forward, clearly it is global solidarity and improved, equal access to health resources for LMIC with vaccine on the top of the list. For this I don't have much to add beyond what had been said by @peoplesvaccine @_HassanF @zainrizvi 12/n

We need better access to #HIV #tuberculosis care across the world as well. I don't want to perpetuate the stigma of immunocompromised individuals producing variants but access to the best life-saving treatment should be a right, not a privilege. 13/n

And equal access to diagnostic tests. Tests - they work for omicron. Use it if you develop symptoms. Use it before you travel and gather. Use it for inbound travellers but also use it within your borders. But also help countries that don't have good access. 14/n

Here in South Africa an individual would have to fork out >$30 for a PCR and $8-10 for antigen test. For providers like our government, it is a little less but not hugely so. This is why we only find 1 in 10 infections. 15/n

Rich countries and even billionaires, this is an easy problem to sort out with economy of scale. If we don't tackle the diagnostic problem, we will always only see the tip of the iceberg, just before our ship crashes into it. 16/n

Just like COVID-19 vaccines we need diagnostic manufacturing capacity on each continent so investment and tech transfer is key. 17/n

We also need transparency from the diagnostic manufacturers. They should disclose the target of their tests so when a new variant arrives, we don't have to guess which one is likely affected. 18/n

Finally, a few people asked what can/should they do to help. Well, I don't know. We need to hold our elected leaders to account. Does sharing and talking about these issues help? Does spending an hour to write a thread help? No idea. But let's do something. Share your ideas. 19/n