VIENNA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th November, 2021) Austria has banned flights from South Africa and Botswana starting Saturday after the two countries reported cases of a new COVID-19 variant that the UK health minister called a "huge" concern.
Flights from Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho and Eswatin will also be barred from landing as Austria takes measures to "slow down the spread of the new variant globally," Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg said in a statement.
UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid added southern African countries to the national red list from Friday for fear that the B.1.1.529 variant might have already spread across the border. It reportedly has 50 mutations, with more than 30 on its spike protein, which is the target of most vaccines.
Germany will put South Africa on the list of coronavirus variant areas from Saturday, which only allows German nationals and residents to travel. This comes after the head of the German national institute for infectious diseases said he was "very concerned," despite there being no known cases in the country.
