South African health minister says travel bans "unjustified"

South African Health Minister Joe Phaahla said on Friday that preliminary studies suggest a new COVID-19 variant detected in his country may be more transmissible, but the decision of other countries to impose travel restrictions is "unjustified".

Phaahla told a media briefing that South Africa was acting with transparency, and that travel bans contravened the norms and standards of the World Health Organisation (WHO).