Biden to lift travel restrictions on southern African countries that were put in place due to Omicron

  • 📰 CNN Philippines
  • ⏱ Reading Time:
  • 46 sec. here
  • 2 min. at publisher
  • 📊 Quality Score:
  • News: 22%
  • Publisher: 63%

Philippines Headlines News

Philippines Latest News,Philippines Headlines

The Biden administration is lifting restrictions on eight southern African countries that were put in place last month after the Omicron variant was first identified in South Africa, two administration officials told CNN.

The restrictions will lift on December 31 at 12:01 a.m. ET, the officials said. News of the lifted restrictions was first reported by Reuters.

Biden and his coronavirus response team stressed at the time that the measure was a temporary effort to slow the spread of the Omicron variant and give US officials time to assess the variant and prepare for it to hit the US. But the measure still faced criticism after it became clear that Omicron was already spreading in several non-African countries before it was identified in South Africa, which has a strong public health surveillance system.

"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 said. A senior administration official said the US Centers for Disease Control recommended the restrictions be lifted for two key reasons.

 

Thank you for your comment. Your comment will be published after being reviewed.
Please try again later.
We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:

 /  🏆 13. in PH

Philippines Latest News, Philippines Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

AstraZeneca: 3rd jab 'significantly' boosts Omicron antibodiesAstraZeneca said that a third, or 'booster', dose of its COVID-19 vaccine 'significantly' lifted antibody levels against Omicron in a study. And prevent death also hhhhhhhh SpiderMan SpiderManNoWayHome . grassroots word of the day: sayaw (sah-yahw) breaking breakingnews AnditoTayoParaSaIsatIsa AnditoTayoParaSaBawatPamilya
Source: ABSCBNNews - 🏆 5. / 83 Read more »

Omicron wave forces Lufthansa to axe 33,000 flightsGerman national carrier Lufthansa will cut its winter flight plan by 'around 10 percent' as the spread of the Omicron variant fuels uncertainty about travel, chief executive Carsten Spohr said Thursday.
Source: ANCALERTS - 🏆 26. / 50 Read more »

Omicron wave forces Lufthansa to axe 33,000 flightsGerman national carrier Lufthansa will cut its winter flight plan by 'around 10 percent' as the spread of the Omicron variant fuels uncertainty about travel, chief executive Carsten Spohr said Thursday.
Source: ABSCBNNews - 🏆 5. / 83 Read more »

COVID vaccine obligatory in Ecuador from age of 5Ecuador became the first country to make coronavirus vaccines obligatory for children as young as five, following the arrival of the Omicron variant in the South American country.
Source: manilabulletin - 🏆 25. / 51 Read more »

More contagious, less severe: What we know about OmicronA month after it was first detected in southern Africa, Omicron is now known to be far more contagious than previous variants of Covid-19 but appears to cause a less severe illness than its predecessors.
Source: ABSCBNNews - 🏆 5. / 83 Read more »

Tokyo reports first community spread of omicronThe first case of community transmission of the Omicron variant has been reported in Tokyo, the metropolitan government said Friday.
Source: ANCALERTS - 🏆 26. / 50 Read more »