U.S. to restrict travel from South Africa, seven other nations amid new Covid variant

The U.S. will restrict travel from South Africa and seven other countries, effective Monday — a response to the emerging and newly-named “Omicron” variant of Covid-19, President Joe Biden said Friday.

The policy, senior administration officials said, “was implemented out of an abundance of caution,” and after advice from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Biden’s chief medical adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci.

Other countries included in the restriction — which does not apply to U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents — are Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi.