For many, many years, of African-American ethnicity, Latin Americans and those of Asian origin— basically anyone who wasn't of white, or wasn't of European or American descent, was treated as a second class person in the west. Denied entries, detention at airports because of of a headscarf or a different skin colour have been common.
But now, with the outbreak of the deadly COVID-19, things seem to be going in reverse. With Italy and Spain reporting the most number of cases outside of China—13,000 in Italy and more than 4,000 cases in Spain, the rest of the world seems to be keen to keep the Europeans out.
Mexico has so far confirmed 16 cases of coronavirus and zero deaths. The country's Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell said that contagion from the US could be dangerous. He said, "If it were technically necessary to consider mechanisms of restriction or stronger surveillance we would have to take into account not that Mexico would bring the virus to the United States, rather than the United States could bring it here." Mexican residents feel particularly concerned about infection coming from San Diego and California states that lie right across Tijuana.
US President Donald Trump in the meantime said that coronavirus bolsters his case to build a wall for blocking northbound border crossings with a US-Mexico wall, something he has long called for. Mexico has not yet closed schools or banned entry to people coming from places with high numbers of coronavirus cases.
After announcing six new cases of Coronavirus on Wednesday, bringing the total number of cases in South Africa to 13, Uganda has become the latest country to impose new restrictions on visitors from 16 countries— including 11 European nations and the United States on Wednesday.
According to a recent advisory released by the health ministry, travellers from 16 countries including the US, UK, Norway, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden, Austria and Malaysia should postpone non-essential travel to Uganda.
Cases of coronavirus have been reported in African nations of Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Senegal, Togo, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Sudan, Kenya and Ethiopia.
African nations that are restricting entry to travellers from Europe include Kenya, Mauritius and Seychelles. A total of 121 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the African continent so far — a relatively small number. Cases of COVID-19 are in single digits in most African countries.
Last week, 22 visitors were deported from Uganda as they were visiting countries that reported high cases of coronavirus. Kenya, in the meantime, has suspended direct flights from Italy to its coastal resort areas. Zanzibar, the semi-autonomous island region of Tanzania, has imposed a temporary ban on all flights from Italy.
All visitors to The Democratic Republic of Congo from Italy, France, Germany and China must undergo a 14-day period of self-quarantine.
According to experts, while the virus could spread more easily in Africa due to weak healthcare systems and pre-existing health problems such as malaria and HIV, the younger population in the continent might be more resilient to it. Also with experience in tackling Ebola and related infections, African nations created a formal infrastructure to monitor the health of visitors at airports and borders. And this puts them at a better chance of preventing the disease from spreading.
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It should be noted that a similar ban was imposed on travellers from African nations during the Ebola outbreak in 2014. flight shutdowns, visa bans and quarantine regimes affected thousands of travellers from West African nations.
Even when it came to deportations in general, as per a 2013 Report from Black Alliance for Just Immigration, 76 per cent black immigrants were deported for criminal grounds, in comparison to 45 per cent overall. In 2017, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement removed 1815 people from African nations, in comparison to 756 in 2016. Westerners are now facing a similar stigma albeit for a different reason.
