COVID-19: US to lift Omicron travel ban on 8 South African nations following CDC's advice

Nearly a month after the United States restricted the international flights from South African nations to touch down the American soils, the White House on Friday announced to lift restrictions amid surge in Omicron cases. The restrictions were imposed in November after South Africa detected several cases of the new COVID variant Omicron. While announcing the latest order, the White House assistant press secretary Kevin Munoz said that the decision was taken after consulting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) department. According to him, the restriction has given enough time to the Biden administration to learn more about the new variant.

"On December 31, @POTUS will lift the temporary travel restrictions on Southern Africa countries. This decision was recommended by @CDCgov," Munoz said in a tweet. "The restrictions gave us time to understand Omicron and we know our existing vaccines work against Omicron, especially boosters," he added.  

Surprisingly, the new announcement came merely two days after the CDC said Omicron now accounts for 73.2% of new cases in the US. Notably, US President Joe Biden had announced the restriction for eight South African nations including, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi. At that time Biden had said the US scientists needed to study more about the new COVID variant and therefore, it was necessary to impose such restrictions. Earlier on Tuesday, Biden said that his government was mulling to lift the coronavirus restrictions, telling reporters "I'm going to talk with my team in the next couple of days." He reiterated that the administration implemented the bans "to see how much time we had before it (Omicron) hit here so we could begin to decide what we needed by looking at what's happening in other countries," The Hill reported.

Biden sanctions $580 million to support fight against Omicron variant

Moreover, the Biden administration announced to provide an additional amount of $580 million to support seven partners who are working tirelessly in the global fight against coronavirus. He informed that the additional fund will be spent on implementing new coronavirus guidelines and other necessary steps to curb the spread of the Omicron variant. "This additional USD 580 million is a significant contribution to turn vaccines into vaccinations; strengthen public health capacity; support communities in need, and provide urgent, life-saving relief," read a statement by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

(With inputs from ANI)

(Image: AP/Pixabay)