The United States will next week lift the travel ban imposed on several southern African nations when the Omicron variant of Covid was first detected, officials said Friday.
Countries around the world restricted travel from southern Africa after the variant was detected in South Africa, which reported Omicron to the World Health Organization (WHO) on November 24.
WHO and the United Nations spoke out against the travel bans and officials in South Africa said they were being punished for identifying the strain and being transparent.
White House assistant press secretary Kevin Munoz defended the ban on Twitter, saying, “The restrictions gave us time to understand Omicron and we know our existing vaccines work against Omicron, (especially) boosted.”
He said the travel ban would be lifted on December 31.
A senior White House official added that with Omicron present across the United States and globally, international travelers from the eight affected countries would not have a significant impact on US cases.
“During the travel pause President Biden reduced the time for pre-departure testing to one day opposed to three days,” the official said. “Travelers from these eight countries will be subject to these same strict protocols.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken later Friday spoke with South African International Relations and Cooperation Minister Naledi Pandor over the announcement.
“The Secretary again thanked South Africa’s scientists and government for their transparency and expertise,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.
