President Biden lifted Travel Restrictions for 8 South-African Countries

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US President Joe Biden has signed a proclamation rescinding a previous order that restricted travel from 8 countries in southern Africa in the hopes of containing the now-widespread Omicron variant of the coronavirus. The highly contagious strain now accounts for the vast majority of new COVID-19 cases in the United States. It was first detected by scientists in South Africa in late November. In response, President Biden quickly restricted travel by non-US citizens from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique, and Malawi. On Tuesday, Biden said in his proclamation that the restrictions are no longer necessary to protect public health and will be lifted after midnight on December 31.

President Biden wrote in his statement that the CDC now recommends lifting the travel restrictions having learned more about the Omicron variant in the past several weeks. Our Nation’s health officials, in collaboration with the South African scientists who originally reported the variant, have made substantial progress in understanding the Omicron variant, since I issued that proclamation. Biden pointed to the new efforts to screen incoming travelers, including a requirement that all travelers entering the U.S. by air must test negative for COVID-19 within a day of their flight, regardless of vaccination status. It is noteworthy that the previous window was 3 days. The quick spread of the Omicron variant surprised public health officials.

They have stepped up efforts to encourage Americans to get their vaccinations and booster shots to provide strong protection from the new strain. Biden’s decision to restrict travel from southern Africa was called into question by prominent scientists, including from the World Health Organization, who argued the administration was unnecessarily punishing South Africa and other countries for identifying and quickly reporting the emergence of the new variant. The US enacted the travel restrictions on Nov. 26 in an attempt to slow the spread of omicron within the US Since then; the omicron variant has become a dominant version of the coronavirus in the country, accounting for 22.5% of new cases for the week ending Dec. 18.