Biden administration to lift travel restrictions on 8 African nations

The administration said that the travel ban would be lifted because vaccines have proven to be effective and because the omicron variant is already widespread.

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration will lift the travel restrictions it had imposed on eight African nations to curb the spread of the omicron variant of Covid-19, according to a senior administration official.

The travel restrictions on South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi will end on Dec. 31 at 12:01 a.m. ET.

The official said that the decision was recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in part because health experts now know that the U.S.’s existing Covid vaccines are effective at preventing severe disease for those infected with omicron. The administration also said that international travelers from the African countries would not have a significant impact on U.S. cases given how widespread omicron was throughout the world.

The U.S. government had imposed the restrictions on Nov. 29 after the discovery of the new omicron variant in South Africa. President Joe Biden was criticized at the time by some health experts who viewed the foreign travel restrictions as ineffective.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Thursday that the travel ban was "never intended to be permanent; it was intended to be temporary. And lifting it is certainly our intention."
The omicron variant accounts for more than 73 percent of new cases in the U.S., according to CDC data shared on Monday

The senior Biden administration official said that the "value of country-based international travel restrictions is greatest early in an outbreak, before the virus or variant has been widely disseminated" and that the value declines "as domestic transmission starts to contribute a larger proportion of case burden."

During the travel pause, Biden implemented a new rule requiring all international travelers — regardless of nationality or vaccination status — to test negative within a day of their departures to the United States. He also extended the mask requirement for domestic travel through mid-March.

Another issue that is showing up.

U.S. NEWS
DECEMBER 24, 2021 / 09:47 AM
United, Delta cancel hundreds of U.S. Christmas Eve flights amid COVID surge

(Reuters) -United Airlines and Delta Air Lines have canceled hundreds of Christmas Eve flights, as the spreading COVID-19 Omicron variant takes a toll on its flight crews and other workers.

Chicago-based United on Thursday canceled 120 flights for Friday, while Atlanta-based Delta said it had canceled about 90. Both said they were working to contact passengers so they would not be stranded at airports.

FlightAware on Friday said United has now canceled 169 flights on Christmas Eve and Delta has canceled 127, along with another 50 canceled flights for United on Christmas and 89 for Delta.

The flight tracking firm said the current number of Christmas Eve flights canceled globally is 2,029, with 448 canceled in the United States.

“The nationwide spike in Omicron cases this week has had a direct impact on our flight crews and the people who run our operation. As a result, we’ve unfortunately had to cancel some flights and are notifying impacted customers in advance of them coming to the airport,” United said on Thursday.

Delta said Thursday it has “exhausted all options and resources -- including rerouting and substitutions of aircraft and crews to cover scheduled flying -- before canceling around 90 flights for Friday.”
Delta cited potential inclement weather and the impact of the Omicron variant for the cancellations.

On Tuesday, Delta Chief Executive Ed Bastian asked the head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to shrink quarantine guidelines for fully vaccinated individuals who experience breakthrough COVID-19 infections, citing the impact on the carrier’s workforce. Bastian asked that the isolation period be cut to five days from the current 10.

That request was echoed both by Airlines for America, a trade group representing major cargo and passenger carriers, which wrote to the CDC on Thursday, and by JetBlue on Wednesday.

The CDC released updated quarantine guidance for healthcare workers on Thursday, cutting the isolation time to seven days for workers who test positive for COVID-19 but are asymptomatic, providing they test negative.

Reporting by David Shepardson in Grand Rapids, Michigan; Additional reporting by Sabahatjahan Contractor in Bengaluru; Editing by Leslie Adler and Andrea Ricci