US to remove COVID travel restrictions for South African nations | Coronavirus pandemic News

The U.S. ban on Omicron fears has been enforced in eight African countries, including South Africa, Zimbabwe and Malawi.

The U.S. will lift restrictions on travelers from southern African countries amid concerns over the expansion it imposed last month. Omicron coronavirus variant, Announced by a road administration official.

In one tweet on Friday, White House Assistant Press Secretary Kevin Munoz said honest would be removed on December 31, in line with the recommendation of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“The restrictions have given us time to understand Omicron and we know that our vaccines work against Omicron, [especially] driven, ”Munoz wrote.

The United States has imposed restrictions on travel to South African countries, according to South African scientists. he first identified Omicron November 24. World Health Organization (WHO) then duplicated tension is a “variant of concern” and he warned It posed a “very high risk.”

December 31st @POTUS It will remove temporary travel restrictions in southern African countries. He recommended this decision @CDCgov. Restrictions have given us time to understand Omicron and we know that our vaccines work against Omicron, mostly driven. https://t.co/NdRTtntRuE

– Kevin Munoz (@ KMunoz46) December 24, 2021

But the WHO and other global health experts have criticized travel bans, along with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. saying On December 1, the restrictions that isolated any country or region “are not entirely unfair and only punitive – they are effective.”

“With a truly limitless virus, travel restrictions that isolate any country or region are not only very unfair and punishable, they are ineffective,” Guterres said at an hour-long press conference, urging passengers to step up testing.

The US ban applied to South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Swaziland, Mozambique and Malawi.

A senior White House official added that with Omicron present in the U.S. and around the world, international travelers from the eight affected countries would not have much of an impact on U.S. cases.

“During the interruption of the trip, President Biden reduced the time for the pre-departure tests to one day against three days … passengers from these eight countries will be subject to these strict protocols,” the official said.

The CDC said earlier this week that Omicron had become a major strain of coronavirus in the U.S., accounting for 73 percent of new infections.

The rise in cases has pushed some major U.S. cities to tighten restrictions and reintroduce internal mask orders, according to President Joe Biden. he promised on Tuesday provide additional resources to combat the spread of the virus.

Biden said his administration would buy 500 million COVID-19 tests quickly at home and make them available free of charge from January, with the federal government continuing to implement federal tests where needed.

He also called for more support from COVID hospitals and asked Americans to get vaccinated.

“Get the booster, put on the mask,” the U.S. president said. “Our doctors have made it clear that booster shots provide the strongest protection. Unfortunately, we still have tens of millions of people who are eligible for a booster shot that they haven’t gotten yet.”

But as Omicron continues to spread, the head of the WHO warned this week dams in rich countries were deepening the disparity between vaccines to expand additional doses of COVID-19 vaccines and prolonging the pandemic.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday that priority should be given to vaccinating vulnerable people around the world, rather than giving additional doses to those already vaccinated. “No country can push the way out of the pandemic,” he told reporters.