President Joe Biden will lift travel restrictions he imposed last month on eight southern African countries.
The Biden administration will lift the ban on non-US citizens traveling from South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe, effective 12.01am on December 31, two officials toldDespite the ban Biden put in place in late November, the Omicron variant was quickly detected in the US and has become the dominant strain.
‘At the time these restrictions were put in place, it was clear that there was widespread community transmission in South Africa, as well as a great deal of cross-border travel in the region and little surveillance in many of the countries near South Africa,’ a senior administration official told CNN.
‘First, our nation’s health officials have made progress in understanding Omicron; importantly, our existing vaccines are effective against severe disease with Omicron, especially if you’re boosted,’ the official explained. Biden had prohibited almost all foreign nationals who were ‘physically present’ in the eight southern African countries in the ’14-day period preceding their entry, or attempted entry into the United States’. American citizens, lawful permanent residents and non-US citizens married to Americans or permanent residents were exempt.
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