US lifts travel bans imposed by Omicron in 8 South African countries

The Biden government will lift travel restrictions in eight South African countries last month amid concerns about the rapidly spreading Omicron variant, a senior government official told Reuters.

Foreign nationals who have been expelled from the United States because they were in one of the eight countries for the past 14 days will now be free to board flights to the United States departing after 12:01 p.m. ET on December 31, the official added.

On November 29, the United States barred almost all non-US nationals recently found in South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi in a “widespread” move. on the variant found in South Africa.

The official said the U.S. Public Health Service recommended lifting the travel restrictions because maintaining them would not have a significant impact on U.S. cases, given the widespread current in the U.S., the confidence that a specific vaccine would not be needed. Micron and that existing vaccines and booster vaccines are highly effective.

“This travel break served its purpose. It provided time to understand science, it gave time to analyze the variant,” the official told Reuters, who did not want to be named because the decision has not yet been made public.

“This was not meant to keep Omicron out. We knew we could not do that. The point was to reduce the number of cases that occurred – those early days and weeks.”