Received this on WhatsApp, author unknown:

Once again the world's media is reporting: "South Africa has a new Covid variant" as if the variant started here and is infecting us all.

CAN I SAY THIS AGAIN, MORE LOUDLY FOR THE IDIOT JOURNALISTS AT THE BACK: South Africa has one of the most sophisticated and advanced infectious diseases infrastructure on the planet.

Some of the world's leading epidemiologists work in South Africa. We've had to develop these capabilities to deal with TB and AIDS and other diseases ravaging our continent.

It is no surprise that our medical system is the first in the world to identify new Covid variants. It is no surprise that we led the world in clinical trials of vaccines.

What IS a surprise is how lazy journalists write headlines: "New Covid variant in South Africa". No, this new Covid variant has been found in New Zealand, England, Brazil, France, India, Indonesia, the Philippines and other places. South African scientists isolated, sequenced and understood it first. Report THAT fact, but don't start all over again with putting "South Africa is unsafe" into people's heads.