Reports: Biden to Impose Travel Ban on S. Africa due to New COVID-19 Variant Outbreak

On Sunday, many reports highlighted that the new US president Joe Biden will impose a new South Africa travel ban. The main reason for this travel ban is the tragic spread of the new COVID-19 variant in South Africa.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) principal deputy director Dr. Anne Schuchat expressed to Reuters, “We are adding South Africa to the restricted list because of the concerning variant present that has already spread beyond South Africa."

She added, "putting in place this suite of measures to protect Americans and also to reduce the risk of these variants spreading and worsening the current pandemic.”

The new variant is known as the 501Y.V2 and it is 50% more infectious. The new variant was detected in at least 20 countries.

CDC officials told Reuters they would be open to adding additional countries to the list if needed.

The South African variant has not yet been found in the United States, however, at least 20 U.S. states have detected the new variant that was found in the UK variant, B.1.1.7.

Until this moment, the embassy of South Africa in Washington did not respond.