NANTUCKET, Mass./WASHINGTON - The United States will bar entry to most travelers from eight southern African countries starting on Monday, after a potentially more contagious new coronavirus variant was identified in South Africa, President Joe Biden said on Friday.
No cases of Omicron have been identified in the United States to date, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday. The agency expects that it would identify the B.1.1.529 variant quickly if it emerges in the country. Biden made the announcement while spending the Thanksgiving holiday weekend on the Massachusetts island of Nantucket.
Airlines for America, an industry trade group, said it was "in communication with the US government as specifics remain unknown at this time and there are many unanswered questions. Amid this rapidly evolving situation, it is critical that US government decisions regarding international travel restrictions and requirements be rooted in science."
"The news about this new variant should make clearer than ever why this pandemic will not end until we have global vaccinations," Biden said in a statement. Earlier, top US infectious disease official Dr. Anthony Fauci said the United States was rushing to gather data on the new COVID-19 variant.
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