United States President Joe Biden on Friday announced the closure of US borders, starting Monday, to travelers from eight southern African countries in response the appearance of the Omicron variant of Covid-19.
People coming from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi will be prohibited from arriving on American soil, a senior American official said.
Only US nationals and permanent residents of the United States will be allowed to enter the country, he added. It’s about a “precautionary measure while waiting for more information“about”variant Omicron, which spreads across southern Africa“Joe Biden said in a statement.
This decision, in the wake of similar measures announced in particular by European countries, comes at a time when US President Joe Biden had just reopened the borders to travelers from all over the world in early November, provided they are vaccinated against Covid, after 20 months of restrictions.
The American president also estimated that the appearance of the Omicron variant should encourage the rest of the world to give more vaccines to poorer countries. “Information on this new variant should make it more evident than ever that this pandemic will not end without vaccinations worldwide. The United States has already given more vaccines to other countries than all the other countries combined. It’s time for other countries to do as much as America in terms of speed and generosity“, wrote the American president.
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