President Biden will lift a travel ban he imposed last month on non-U.S. citizens.
Gatekeepers News reports that President Biden will lift a travel ban he imposed last month on non-U.S. citizens traveling from South Africa and seven other southern African countries.
This is according to a senior administration official. The official said the administration will lift the restrictions effective Dec. 31 at 12:01 a.m.
The 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 told CNN on Friday morning.
Despite 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.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended that the ban be lifted for two reasons, the official said.
‘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.
‘Second, with Omicron now present across the US and globally, international travelers from these countries will not have a significant impact on US cases.’
