The U.S. will lift
travel restrictions on eight southern African countries that it imposed
to try to blunt the spread of the COVID omicron variant, the White House
announced Friday.
The
variant, which was first detected by scientists in South Africa, has
since spread around the world. The World Health Organization and leaders
in southern Africa
criticized the travel ban as ineffective and unfairly damaging to local economies.
The
Nov. 29 ban barred nearly all non-U.S. citizens who had recently been
in South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Namibia, Lesotho, Malawi,
Mozambique and Zimbabwe. The restrictions will be lifted on New Year’s
Eve.
White House
spokesman Kevin Munoz said on Twitter that the decision was recommended
by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Munoz said the
temporary travel bans bought scientists necessary time to study the new
virus variant and conclude that the current vaccinations are effective
in blunting its impact.
Omicron
is now spreading rapidly throughout the U.S., including among the
vaccinated, but a huge majority of those being hospitalized are
unvaccinated.
“The
restrictions gave us time to understand Omicron and we know our
existing vaccines work against Omicron, esp boosted,” Munoz tweeted.
Much
about the omicron coronavirus variant remains unknown; scientists say
omicron spreads even easier than other coronavirus strains, including
delta. The government reports that 73% of new infections nationwide are
from the omicron variant. But while breakthrough infections among
vaccinated people have become common, they have rarely led to severe
illness or hospitalization.
The
rapid advance of omicron, along with more people gathering indoors
during winter, has led to a major infection spike. The seven-day rolling
average for U.S. COVID-19 cases climbed past 160,000 this week,
according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University. That’s more
than double the average in late November.
The
rapid spread of the new variant hasn’t overwhelmed most domestic
hospital systems yet, but it has roiled businesses, sports leagues and
Christmas travel plans across the country. Multiple NBA and NFL games
have been rescheduled due to COVID outbreaks, and the Hawaii Bowl,
scheduled for Friday, was cancelled outright after Hawaii was forced to withdraw. Three major airlines have
cancelled dozens of domestic and international flights, citing staffing shortages.