WASHINGTON – The United States will restrict travel for non-U.S. citizens from South Africa and seven other countries starting on Monday, part of a global effort to stem the spread of the heavily mutated omicron variant of Covid-19, according to senior Biden administration officials.

Apart from South Africa, affected countries include Botswana and Zimbabwe as well as Namibia, Lesotho (Eswatini), Mozambique, Malawi, Namibia, Lesotho and Namibia.

It was less than 3 weeks after Biden’s administration lifted travel restrictions for pandemic travelers from over 30 countries.

White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci gave President Joe Biden a briefing on Friday. This briefing occurred as several countries had announced restrictions on travel to southern Africa. South America was the first to adopt this variant.

Travel restrictions by Britain and the European Union were placed Friday for southern Africa. even as Belgian officials announcedThere were already several cases of this variant.

Friday’s assignment of the Greek letter Omicron to the new variant by the World Health Organization was a formal recognition by the organization. The strain had been previously known as lineage B.1.1.529As a “variant” of concern.”

These experts in the field of health deeply concerned about the transmissibility of the omicron variant given that it has an unusual constellation of mutations and a profile that is different from other variants of concern. We don’t know how serious infections could be in vaccinated people.

It is feared a sharp upswing of Covid cases in South Africa’s Gauteng province — where the heavily mutated strain of the virus was first identified — could mean it has greater potential to escape prior immunity than other variants.

Health officials are becoming increasingly concerned by the new concern. sent global markets into a tailspin on Friday. The news caused heavy losses in oil prices, travel stocks and leisure stocks.

This is the latest news. Stay tuned for new updates.