New Delhi: India is still reviewing its international travel policy, but many countries, including the US and the UK, have announced air travel restrictions for South Africa and its neighbours.
Restrictions in the US will become effective from Monday on travellers to and from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi. The UK and UAE have, however, imposed restrictions with immediate effect. “As a precautionary measure, I am ordering additional air travel restrictions from South Africa and seven other countries,” US President Joe Biden said in a statement.
US curbs from Monday
- US restrictions will become effective from Monday on travellers from South Africa and seven other nations
- The UK and UAE have imposed restrictions with immediate effect
The new variant also prompted Biden to call on all nations to support the joint India-South Africa proposal at the WTO for waiving intellectual property (IP) protections for Covid vaccines.
“The news about this new variant should make it clearer than ever why this pandemic will not end until we have global vaccinations,” he said.
With each passing hour, new restrictions were being slapped on travel from countries in southern Africa as the world scurried on Saturday to contain the new variant that has the potential to be more resistant to the protection offered by vaccines.
A host of countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada Iran, Japan, Thailand and the United States, joined others, including the European Union and the UK, in imposing restrictions on southern African countries in response to warnings over the transmissibility of the new variant — against the advice of the World Health Organisation.
Despite the shutdown of flights, there was increasing evidence that the variant is already spreading. Cases have been reported in travellers in Belgium, Israel and Hong Kong, and Germany also has a probable case.
A number of pharmaceutical companies, including AstraZeneca, Moderna, Novavax and Pfizer, said they have plans in place to adapt their vaccines in light of the emergence of Omicron.
61 passengers test +ve in Netherlands
The Hague: Sixty-one passengers who arrived in the Netherlands on two flights from South Africa on Friday have tested positive for Covid and are in isolation. Further tests are under way on the travellers who arrived at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport to establish if any of them are infected with the new Omicron variant. Other passengers were allowed to return home.
SA Prez advances crucial Covid meet
Johannesburg: South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has advanced an urgent meeting with the National Coronavirus Command Council to Saturday amid growing global concern about the Omicron variant. The meeting was originally scheduled for Sunday.
Vax likely to protect: Top UK scientist
London: The new potentially highly transmissible variant of Covid-19 is not a disaster as vaccines are still likely to protect against the serious disease, Prof Calum Semple, a microbiologist from the UK Government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, said on Saturday.