The ban was announced on Nov. 26, after officials in South Africa reported the emergence of the variant, which has a large number of mutations that allow it to evade the immune response of even vaccinated people. The ban went into effect at midnight on Nov. 29.
The countries in southern Africa will now be subject to the same protocols imposed on all nations, with a requirement that foreign incoming travelers be fully vaccinated and show proof of a negative coronavirus test within one day of their trips.
“We certainly welcome this development,” Clayson Monyela, head of public diplomacy in South Africa’s department of international relations, said on Friday. “We’ve always maintained that these travel bans were unscientific and discriminatory. They’ve had a devastating impact on our travel and tourism industry, on business and families.”
Lemogang Kwape, Botswana’s foreign minister, said officials there were delighted by the news. “We hope the world would come together as one to fight all the challenges that we are besieged with,” he added.
Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/24/world/south-africa-united-states-travel.html
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