US Designates South Africa and 7 Other African Countries as Travel Ban Advisory Areas

President Joe Biden of the United States
[Photo by AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Byunghee Park] On the 27th (local time), the United States designated eight African countries, including South Africa where the new COVID-19 variant Omicron emerged, as travel ban advisory areas.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) raised the travel alert for these eight countries?South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique, and Malawi?to the highest level, "Level 4: Very High." The State Department also issued a travel ban advisory for these eight countries accordingly.

Earlier, President Joe Biden issued a statement the day before, right after Thanksgiving, announcing travel restrictions starting from the 29th for South Africa and the other eight African countries. President Biden said, "We decided to proceed cautiously," adding, "We do not know much about this variant except that it is very concerning."

Anthony Fauci, the White House Chief Medical Advisor and Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), appeared on NBC that day and responded to the question, "Could Omicron have already arrived in the U.S.?" by saying, "I would not be surprised if that is the case."

Fauci added, "Although it has not yet been detected, given that a virus with this level of transmissibility has emerged and there are travel-related cases confirmed in other countries including Belgium and Israel, the spread of the variant is ultimately inevitable."

Fauci also stated that because the new variant virus is highly transmissible, the travel ban on African countries is merely a measure to buy time.

Fauci urged people to adhere to basic preventive measures such as wearing masks, practicing social distancing, avoiding indoor gatherings, and above all, completing vaccination and booster shots to stay safe from the variant virus.