One of the French doctors who proposed that testing for Coronavirus treatment should begin in Africa because they supposedly “don’t protect themselves” has since apologized, after facing serious backlash for his insensitive and ignorant suggestion. On Wednesday, Dr. Jean-Paul Mira, he head of intensive care at the Cochin Hospital in Paris, appeared in an interview on French television channel, LCI, alongside fellow physician, Camille Locht to discuss the coronavirus pandemic. At one point, 

“If I can be provocative,” Mira began, “shouldn’t we do this study in Africa where there are no masks, no treatment, no intensive care? “A bit like we did in some studies on AIDS. We tried things on prostitutes because they are highly exposed and do not protect themselves.” Locht, the research director at the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research, agreed with Mira, adding that they were already considering “a parallel study in Africa.” Both of them were heavily criticized by the public for their outrageous ideas, including by Star Wars actor, John Boyega, who tweeted, “Africa isn’t a testing lab you pieces of sh*t.”

Mira has since apologized for what he said. “I want to present all my apologies to those who were hurt, shocked and felt insulted by the remarks that I clumsily expressed on [TV] this week,” he said in a statement. Africa currently has the lowest number of confirmed coronavirus cases out of all six continents, although it has been suggested that these statistics are merely a result of poor access to testing. The virus hit Europe and North America the worst.