Just a few weeks after eliminating country-specific travel bans in favor of a vaccine requirement for foreign visitors, the United States is once again introducing country-specific travel bans…
United States bans travelers from eight countries
As of Monday, November 29, 2021, the United States will restrict travel from eight African countries, over concerns of the new omicron coronavirus variant. These travel restrictions will apply to travelers from Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe.
It goes without saying that the South Africa travel ban is most significant here, given that it’s the biggest of the tourist markets for Americans, and there are also nonstop flights between the United States and South Africa.
With this new travel ban, non-US citizens will no longer be allowed to enter the United States if they’ve been in any of the above countries in the past 14 days. Meanwhile US citizens, and select other travelers, will continue to be allowed to travel to the United States as before, with a pre-travel testing requirement. However, if coming from these countries, testing must occur within one day of travel, rather than within three days of travel (which is ordinarily what’s required for vaccinated travelers).
The United States isn’t the first country to add restrictions like this, as we’ve seen similar announcements from Canada, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and more. Unlike some other countries, the United States isn’t going so far as to ban flights, but rather is just adjusting entry requirements.
The new omicron variant is concerning because it’s a combination of mutations that could make it more transmissible, and could allow it to evade some immunity protection. It remains to be seen just how big of a problem this becomes.
Does this new travel ban make sense?
The United States’ travel restrictions used to be country based, which didn’t make a whole lot of sense:
- Once countries were added to the ban list they weren’t taken off, and at many points the countries with among the lowest number of cases had the strictest travel restrictions
- The travel restrictions only applied to non-Americans, as if Americans couldn’t bring coronavirus back home (which isn’t to say that Americans should be banned from returning home, but rather if a place is so dangerous, you’d think they’d require a quarantine or further testing)
Fortunately that’s no longer the case, and now foreign visitors just need to be vaccinated, regardless of where they’re coming from. But now that’s changing again, with the introduction of yet another country-based travel ban. I don’t know whether or not this makes sense, but I do have a few thoughts:
- It seems counterproductive to start banning travel in three days, since that creates a rush for people to fly from South Africa to the United States, potentially importing more cases more quickly
- If the United States is going to start doing country-based bans again, here’s to hoping it’s actually managed a bit more actively, and reflects the epidemiological situation in a country at that point
- The variant is almost certainly already in the United States, the question is just how widespread it is; we know the variant is in Hong Kong, but that likely just reflects that Hong Kong does a lot more testing on strains when people test positive
Bottom line
As of Monday, November 29, 2021, the United States will be banning travel from eight African countries, including South Africa. Specifically, non-Americans will no longer be able to enter the United States if they’ve been in those countries in the past 14 days.
Well, it has been a fun (almost) three weeks in the United States without any country-based travel restrictions, eh?
What do you make of the United States’ new Africa travel ban?
This travel ban on african countries is not fair,because are open borders brought in alot of affected people from where ever they came from, but are current govenment didnt ban them from coming across are borders illegally,just a backward policy as usual.
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but flights TO South Africa from the US haven't been canceled yet. I have a girlfriend and her husband leaving Thursday to celebrate their anniversary.
The travel ban being delayed for a few days before kicking in is to allow people in transit to get out of the system. Otherwise you end up with a situation where people are stranded at airports between countries and may not be accepted back by foreign nations or may not be able to get home. In addition, while I believe there should be mandatory quarantine for any US citizens who have recently been in...
The travel ban being delayed for a few days before kicking in is to allow people in transit to get out of the system. Otherwise you end up with a situation where people are stranded at airports between countries and may not be accepted back by foreign nations or may not be able to get home. In addition, while I believe there should be mandatory quarantine for any US citizens who have recently been in those countries you can't keep US citizens out of the US. It is not constitutional. Still by drastically reducing the number of people coming from these hotspot regions they significantly slow the spread of the variant and buy us time to study it to see what we are dealing with. Yes it may very well be here already, but not in great numbers. Within a couple of weeks we will have a much better idea of what we are dealing with and within 100 days we can have a modified vaccine IF the current vaccine is ineffective against this. I'm all for the US shutting down people coming in from this hotspot region, until we know what we are dealing with. This is the holiday season. Letting numerous people in from that region with all the travel going on in the US could be a massive setback for the US.
this ban is so racist why are they banning all of these African Americans from the country of Africa? This is just racism at its finest. We're not these African people wearing their masks? As we all know the mask protection us from this terrible virus
Are you drunk or just think your sense of humor is greater than what it is? The country of Africa? Banning African-Americans? You can't be serious.
Biden said Trump was xenophobic to issue travel ban. So he did the same thing but all media are silent saying nothing? Double standards.
More or less why any international leisure trips are on hold for a little longer... I certainly wouldn't want to get caught in the next hot spot and have to worry about when the country will go in full lock down mode or if any flights actually would have some required return date back.
One president downplayed the virus as if it were nothing more than a bad cold, while the other takes It seriously so doing the same thing doesn't mean same motivation.
"a wall will not stop the coronavirus banning all travel from europe or any other part of the world will not stop it"
Joe Biden 2020
Umm I see people trying to use these quotes and they always seem to leave out key context. Joe Biden was saying that travel bans should be based upon actual risk (like this current one is) and not politics like the prior administration. He also said that travel bans can slow the spread of the virus, which is kinda the key point here because it buys us more time to see if the vaccines work...
Umm I see people trying to use these quotes and they always seem to leave out key context. Joe Biden was saying that travel bans should be based upon actual risk (like this current one is) and not politics like the prior administration. He also said that travel bans can slow the spread of the virus, which is kinda the key point here because it buys us more time to see if the vaccines work against it and if not to modify the vaccines., but sure go ahead and keep trying to mislead people by cherry picking quotes for your obvious political agenda.
More "Follow The Science" from the first world.
1) Hype something up.
2) Instill Fear
3) Do dumb things, that don't work (travel bans, lockdowns, masks, non-sterilizing vaccines)
4) As people catch on... don't adjust! Do MORE, PUSH FOR MORE OF THE SAME
5) Go back to 1
I thought the President hated travel bans
Am I confused with 45
He was against travel bans based on politics and racism. Not against travel bans based on actual risk based analysis. Try to keep up.
I think all travelers should have to be vaccinated period. If children are to young to get vaccinated then they should stay with other relatives or the parents just stay where they are until we can get all of population vaccinated we will eventually get to the babies. This really is just to contagious to keep playing dodge ball with. I have learned there are wants and needs in this world and people want a heck of a lot more than what is needed and it can wait.
Yes indeed it makes sense to United States to get prepare for the new omicron from Covid-19. We suffered so much with the Covid-19 Pandemic inside United States. If we don't get prepare? I don't think many will survive? President Biden should be strong enough to put in place new restriction for the country to resuming normal. It's so sad that I lost many friends from Covid-19 last year and this year 2021. It's enough...
Yes indeed it makes sense to United States to get prepare for the new omicron from Covid-19. We suffered so much with the Covid-19 Pandemic inside United States. If we don't get prepare? I don't think many will survive? President Biden should be strong enough to put in place new restriction for the country to resuming normal. It's so sad that I lost many friends from Covid-19 last year and this year 2021. It's enough we should not tolerate another Covid-19. The United Nations alongside USA should punishment the country guilty of all the sufferings worldwide we got from the country the Covid-19 came from. And force that country pay for all the damages it caused worldwide. I believe it came from China.
Why bother? It is clear nothing works against this virus. Mask and locking doesn't work and now we know vaccine doesn't either. Let's waive the white flag and go extinct, but before that, let's have freedom. Let's be free. No more restrictions.
This is so racist and unnecessary! (Oh wait Biden issued it, it’s ok then! )
I think it's better to write in the title "Newly Adds Africa ..." rather than "Adds New Africa ..." I opened the link thinking what is New Africa?
Hey Ben, any chance you can look into an issue where AA flights are currently unbookable via BA as Avios awards? I've tried twice this week and no AA availability shows at all. Multiple flyertalk posts confirming the issue.
Fauci said travel ban not appropriate until more data, then 2 hours later travel ban is announced. So much for follow the science. Where are the democrats to call the travel ban racist and xenophobic? Bold prediction: crickets.
When will you start taking the context of the ban into account. When your beloved Trump put the travel ban on China, certain countries in Europe had already started seeing a rise in cases. So instead of focusing on “Chyyynaa” he should have enforced a travel ban on all countries that were at that time seeing a rise in cases. Thats the reason he was called Xenophobic and Racist. And seriously you are living under...
When will you start taking the context of the ban into account. When your beloved Trump put the travel ban on China, certain countries in Europe had already started seeing a rise in cases. So instead of focusing on “Chyyynaa” he should have enforced a travel ban on all countries that were at that time seeing a rise in cases. Thats the reason he was called Xenophobic and Racist. And seriously you are living under a rock if you think that Trump wasn't and is not racist. Not reflective of the whole republican party but it doesn't help that the fringe cant shut their mouth.
Trump was not and is not a racist, and neither are Republicans
Under Trump, minority employment was the best in 50 years. That's just a fact. And another fact is that unlike Biden, Trump never gave a eulogy for a KKK grand wizard, didn't say you have to have a slight Indian accent to get into Dunkin Doughnuts and didn't say if you don't vote for me you ain't black.
The points you make reflect how little you understand racism. Staying quiet when one side commits violence and condemning the other side when it does the same is implicit of racism. Not saying that violence is OK but the response should be equal in both cases. Hiding behind policies that promote the welfare of the society as a whole (which you are chosen to do in the first place) doesnt shield you from your biases....
The points you make reflect how little you understand racism. Staying quiet when one side commits violence and condemning the other side when it does the same is implicit of racism. Not saying that violence is OK but the response should be equal in both cases. Hiding behind policies that promote the welfare of the society as a whole (which you are chosen to do in the first place) doesnt shield you from your biases. “When the looting starts the shooting starts” - it very well didnt start on our Jan 6th “heroes”. Oh and dunkin donuts - cant help if you guys are not as productive as the Indian working there and making an honest living. Maybe time to ask your fellow men to buckle up and start working instead of blowing off money in social security benefits.
Totally not racist - except for a 50 year history of being, you know, a racist
https://www.vox.com/2016/7/25/12270880/donald-trump-racist-racism-history
Nik, you're a revisionist, but we were all there, we remember. He banned china travel, bc thats where the cases were. Same with the African countries, same with Europe. There is zero context missing. Dems just play the race card every time, no matter what the situation. It plays to the most stupid, fringe elements of their base, but unfortunately it also divides the nation and makes us all weaker.
Bottom line is you...
Nik, you're a revisionist, but we were all there, we remember. He banned china travel, bc thats where the cases were. Same with the African countries, same with Europe. There is zero context missing. Dems just play the race card every time, no matter what the situation. It plays to the most stupid, fringe elements of their base, but unfortunately it also divides the nation and makes us all weaker.
Bottom line is you libs are so deluded, you think if it's your idea then it's virtuous, if it's gop idea then it's evil. You can be incredibly hypocritical, do one thing and say another, yet still self righteous. It's tiresome.
Dude, the problem is you dont follow facts and data. Go back and look at the timeline during the first ban. Cases were on the rise in Italy. Why not ban flights from Italy then. The ban right now is due to a specific variant and to be very clear the better way to deal with it would be to enforce quarantines on any returning traveller resident or non resident so that at the very...
Dude, the problem is you dont follow facts and data. Go back and look at the timeline during the first ban. Cases were on the rise in Italy. Why not ban flights from Italy then. The ban right now is due to a specific variant and to be very clear the better way to deal with it would be to enforce quarantines on any returning traveller resident or non resident so that at the very least you can isolate cases or discourage non essential travel to high risk places.
Oh and just to make it very clear I dont support AOC or Bernie. The problem is that you cant see beyond partisan politics. Most people lie somewhere in the center of the political spectrum. People should call a spade a spade. Biden isnt perfect and Trump definitely wasnt perfect. Same holds true for democrats and republicans. So grow up and start thinking rationally.
BuT tHe VaCcInEs WeRe SuPpOsEd To SaVe Us!?
Like there is child trafficking going on inside a pizza shop and our holy master shall be back to resurrect Washington from the ashes? Not your fault man.
Let me guess - you're probably an orange or yellow line, not a blue one
https://www.statista.com/chart/26159/covid-cases-us-age-group-vaccination-status/
Umm you do know that South Africa has an extremely low vaccination rate right? That if they had a higher vaccination rate maybe this mutation would not have occurred? Seriously the anti-vaxxers are what keeps this pandemic going.
Wow, just returned from South Africa 2 weeks ago. I guess I was lucky to get my trip in before this.
Same! Just returned. Was supposed to go back in 10 days and that’s now canceled
For what it is worth, effective Monday there will be a travel restriction from South Africa to EVERY SINGLE POINT OUTSIDE AFRICA to which there is/was a direct flight.
USA
UK
European Union
Switzerland
Saudi Arabia
Israel
UAE
Qatar
Turkey
Singapore
Not quite sure why they included Malawi on this list considering there are zero cases of this variant confirmed here or in any country that borders here, and just a dozen cases of local transmission in the country per week (0.06 weekly cases/100k versus 176/100k in the USA) with 0.4% PCR test positivity. I guess it was easier to just lump all of Southern Africa into one ban.
Also, you missed Zimbabwe from your travel ban list. Total 8 countries.
Apparently the first case in Israel was a traveller who just returned from Malawi, so probably that's why.
The traveler left Malawi for Israel via South Africa (overnight) and Dubai (transit). Not indicative of infection in Malawi by any means.
I love that this does not apply to US Citizens (are they not able to spread the virus??!!). I'm curious yo know what the followup/tracing will be done for US citizens (and green card holders?) returning from these countries - if any?
Because the US is not a tyrannical country like Australia, ppl know the value of Freedom there. But you know, there's always the people that enjoy the boot on the neck, to each their own.
It's not because US citizens can't spread the virus, it's because most countries legally cannot keep their citizens from entering their own country. It's not just a moral argument either, because where else are people suppose to go once whatever visa they have expires and they MUST leave whichever country they're currently in? It only makes sense that citizens are allowed to return home.
Yeah but they can very well have their citizens undergo quarantine on returning or make a policy of two negative tests over a period of 7 days. Just common sense!
So the US just can't manage a quarantine system?
You mean, like depriving the ppl of their basic freedoms? we don't do that here LOL
So what next? Homicide, Profanity, etc. will be a basic freedom as well. Sometimes its just common sense to enforce a quarantine to reduce risk for the greater population. Democracies work on the principle of majority and the greater good. So if the government enforces something that works in the favor of the majority population its very well enforcing democracy. Rather what you are suggesting is what dictatorships do, to give a free hand to...
So what next? Homicide, Profanity, etc. will be a basic freedom as well. Sometimes its just common sense to enforce a quarantine to reduce risk for the greater population. Democracies work on the principle of majority and the greater good. So if the government enforces something that works in the favor of the majority population its very well enforcing democracy. Rather what you are suggesting is what dictatorships do, to give a free hand to select few who can not think beyond their personal interests!
“ Sometimes its just common sense to enforce a quarantine”
You’ve not shown that now is the time. Plenty of people don’t believe it is.
“ So if the government enforces something that works”
You’ve not shown that this will work. After the quarantine the virus is likely still going to be around.
“Plenty of people dont believe it is” - You have not shown if that your loosely defines plenty is greater than 50% of the US population. Plenty people also think that the world is flat! What next we should also then just say that the earth isnt round because common sense and science shouldnt exist.
“After the quarantine the virus will still be around” - You have not shown that not having a quarantine is...
“Plenty of people dont believe it is” - You have not shown if that your loosely defines plenty is greater than 50% of the US population. Plenty people also think that the world is flat! What next we should also then just say that the earth isnt round because common sense and science shouldnt exist.
“After the quarantine the virus will still be around” - You have not shown that not having a quarantine is equally effective to having a quarantine. Btw, if you get your head out of your closed American world view, you ll prob realize that quarantines have worked almost every where where they were brought into practice - Early 2020 India, NZ, Aus, Singapore, Hong Kong, etc. Their case loads were pretty low till they were enforcing quarantines, That countries are not proactive in changing their policies with changing case loads is what causes the resentment and that is where the implementation can be better. You know at the end of the day there is a reason why our country had the highest number of over all cases and deaths. Go figure.
Reflexive knee jerk nonsense.
COVID is everywhere, any new variant will eventually be everywhere.
COVID is never going away. Ever.
It’s time to start managing / leading our lives for that obvious reality.
as an american currently spending the month in cape town, I see this as an interesting move. I managed to book an I fare on DL 201 from JNB to ATL next Thursday for $2700USD. (D1 suites)
Although it is a bummer to cut my trip short, I think this is an unfortunate consequence for South Africa. Due to the insane amount of HIV infections they have (8.2M infected individuals), they have some of...
as an american currently spending the month in cape town, I see this as an interesting move. I managed to book an I fare on DL 201 from JNB to ATL next Thursday for $2700USD. (D1 suites)
Although it is a bummer to cut my trip short, I think this is an unfortunate consequence for South Africa. Due to the insane amount of HIV infections they have (8.2M infected individuals), they have some of the best viral labs in the world. I think other countries also found this strain before they did, but they simply waited until a scapegoat announced it.
Truly lovely people down here - definitely do not deserve this treatment. If anyone else is on DL 201 on Dec 2 - ill be in seat 6A - come say hi!
RMA
Why did you need to change your plans?
Unless you anticipate flight cancellations (legitimate!) this has no effect on US citizens.
Sorry for your situation. I was scheduled to fly to CPT today, for the month of December to relax and see friends.
Glad I had been tracking the news. My connection was supposed to be with BA, so I would have been stuck.
I agree with others commenting that the flight suspensions and such are excessive.
I feel like I heard this was super racist… hmmmm, must only apply to Republican administrations
You do realize that South Africa has white people right? Oh and it is based on actual medical expediency not politics unlike some travel bans from the prior administration that had NOTHING to do with covid.
That's a very weak point. You probably should have looked up the 91% non white, 9% white in South Africa tidbit before posting.
And maybe you should have looked up the percentage of that 91% of non whites who have the wealth to travel to the compared to that of the 9% white population.
If travel bans worked why do countries still have them, they have never and will never work. Same with lockdowns if they worked their would never be a secondary or tertiary lockdown. I feel really bad for people who have South Africa travel plans, must be devastating to see this news now.
“ I feel really bad for people who have South Africa travel plans, must be devastating to see this news now.”
Europeans with Southern Africa travel plans, certainly. Their countries are blocking flights entirely.
Non-US citizens hoping to go from Southern Africa to the US are hosed as well.
But unless US airlines start canceling flights (they might!) this has no effect on US citizens traveling to and from Africa.
Right i meant SA citizens and people connecting from africa through SA to the US. Not to mention this puts people's flights in jeopardy and US citizens who stop through the EU either before or after South Africa cant do that anymore, hopefully you have a direct from EWR or ATL and its not canceled.
I'm seriously sitting here trying to figure out how lockdowns fail to work... viruses are contagious. Lockdowns prevent people from interacting with one another, thereby preventing contagious diseases from being spread. Perhaps you mean that everyone would eventually catch it anyways, and of course only referring to the unvaccinated, at which point you would be missing the point of the lockdown entirely... to slow transmission and prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed while simultaneously giving some...
I'm seriously sitting here trying to figure out how lockdowns fail to work... viruses are contagious. Lockdowns prevent people from interacting with one another, thereby preventing contagious diseases from being spread. Perhaps you mean that everyone would eventually catch it anyways, and of course only referring to the unvaccinated, at which point you would be missing the point of the lockdown entirely... to slow transmission and prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed while simultaneously giving some unvaccinated more time to get vaccinated.
They have to end and they virus will still be there.
Isn’t this the same kind of argument that unvaccinated people make against vaccines - if vaccines worked then why are vaccinated people still getting infected. The simple reason why lockdowns, travel bans and vaccines are brought into the picture is to get the situation under control and give authorities and healthcare systems time to react. Last year the case load did go down after the initial surge due to lockdowns providing healthcare systems the time...
Isn’t this the same kind of argument that unvaccinated people make against vaccines - if vaccines worked then why are vaccinated people still getting infected. The simple reason why lockdowns, travel bans and vaccines are brought into the picture is to get the situation under control and give authorities and healthcare systems time to react. Last year the case load did go down after the initial surge due to lockdowns providing healthcare systems the time to develop better response mechanisms and bring the death rate to a lower point. The real problem lies in the implementation of these as pointed in the article. No quarantines for returning Americans is a case in point. No country should bar its citizens from returning but responsible citizens should also be willing to follow a mandatory quarantine and testing to isolate the spread. Same for vaccines, vaccines might not be 100% perfect and might need to evolve with the evolving nature of the virus but the fact would remain that there is a lesser chance of fatality for the vaccinated. So there should be some sort of penalties for not getting vaccinated. If only we had citizens who were responsible and governments that were logical and proactive.
Right there should be mandatory quarantine for US citizens coming back from this region. We may have to let them back in, but they don't have a right to run around public infecting everyone if they are positive.