The Biden Administration will lift the travel ban to the United States from eight African countries, which was put in place last month after the discovery of the Omicron variant.
The ban, which was “a precautionary measure until we have more information”, applied to South Africa, Botswana, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini and Malawi.
Now, Omicron has become the dominant variant in the United States. It appears to be more contagious than previous variants, but is not as likely to cause hospitalization or death, especially in vaccinated people.
On Friday, a senior administration official told Fox News “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”.
“We will lift these restrictions effective Friday, December 31 at 12:01 AM,” they added. The official explained that the ban is being lifted by Biden because of the variant’s presence in the U.S., noting that “international travelers from these countries will not have a significant impact on U.S. cases”.
While officials insinuated they were considering lifting the ban, the official announcement wasn’t made until Friday.
President Biden was criticized for his decision shortly after he implemented the ban on the African countries. Many compared it to the ban former President Donald Trump put on Chinese travelers in 2020, which Biden called “xenophobic”.
After Biden’s ban was put in place, the U.S. Travel Association Calle on him to reconsider. “Covid variants are of concern, but closed borders have not prevented their presence in the United States while vaccinations have proven incredibly durable,” it said.