Concerns Over COVID-19 Variant Trigger More Travel Curbs On Southern Africa

Concerns over COVID-19 variant trigger more travel curbs on southern Africa

Digital display boards show cancelled flights to London – Heathrow at O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa, 

Australia and several other countries joined nations imposing restrictions on travel from southern Africa on Saturday after the discovery of the new Omicron coronavirus (COVID-19) variant sparked global concern and triggered a market sell-off.

The omicron variant – believed to be more contagious than previous variants of the disease – was first discovered in South Africa and has since been detected in Belgium, Botswana, Israel, and Hong Kong.

It could take weeks for scientists to fully understand the variant’s mutations and whether existing vaccines and treatments are effective against it.

Omicron is the fifth variant of concern designated by the World Health Organisation.

Although epidemiologists say travel curbs may be too late to stop Omicron from circulating globally, a string of countries including the United States, Brazil, Canada, and European Union nations announced travel bans or restrictions from southern Africa on Friday.

On Saturday, Australia said it would ban non-citizens who have been in nine southern African countries from entering and will require supervised 14-day quarantines for Australian citizens and their dependents returning from there.

Japan said it would extend its tightened border controls to three more African countries after imposing curbs on travel from South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Zimbabwe, Namibia, and Lesotho on Friday.

Sri Lanka, Thailand and Oman also announced travel curbs on southern African nations.

In Britain, the main opposition Labor Party called on Saturday for a faster booster vaccination program, saying the gap between the second dose of a vaccination and the booster jab should be cut from six to five months.

“This new variant is a wake-up call,” said Labor’s junior health spokesman Alex Norris.

“The pandemic is not over. We need to urgently bolster our defenses to keep the virus at bay,” Norris added. (Reuters