The United Kingdom (UK) has banned flights from South Africa and five other countries as a precautionary measure over the newly detected super-mutant COVID-19 variant.
The UK Health Security Agency said the new Covid variant reportedly makes vaccines at least 40% less effective.
Experts have revealed that the B.1.1.529 variant has more than 30 mutations, which is the most ever recorded in a variant and twice as many as Delta.
They said this suggests that the new variant could be more jab-resistant and transmissible than any version before it.
The variant, which is expected to be named ‘Nu’ by the World Health Organization in the coming days, has caused an ‘exponential’ rise in infections in South Africa.
It also has already spread to three countries, including Hong Kong and Botswana, where it is believed to have emerged.
As a result, the UK has announced that flights from South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini and Zimbabwe will be suspended from midday today.
The UK Government further announced that all six countries will be added to the red list.
United States also has announced travel restrictions on southern Africa.
The travel ban will start on Monday, and include South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi, officials told reporters.
The restrictions will not apply to US citizens and lawful permanent residents, but they will still need to test negative for coronavirus prior to travelling.
Officials say the policy is being implemented “out of an abundance of caution”. There was no indication of how long the bans will be in place.
Canada is also shutting its borders to foreign travelers who have recently been to South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
Foreign citizens will be banned from Canada if they have been to the seven nations in the past 14 days, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said.
The US and Canada join the UK, EU and others in tightening border controls over the Omicron variant.