Australia Halts Flights From 9 Southern African Countries Over Omicron Strain - Minister

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th November, 2021) Australia suspends air travel from nine southern African countries for 14 days over the spread of the new Omicron coronavirus variant, Australian Health Minister Greg Hunt said on Saturday.

The ban covers flights from South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Seychelles, Malawi and Mozambique.

"The Australian government will suspend all flights from the nine southern African countries for a period of 14 days as a matter of precaution," Hunt said during a briefing.

According to the health minister, non-Australian citizens who have been in the aforementioned countries within the last 14 days will not be allowed to enter Australia. Australian citizens coming from those countries will be required to spend two weeks in quarantine.

If a person who has visited one of the nine countries in the last two weeks is already in Australia, they will be required to go into quarantine and get tested for the coronavirus disease.

The World Health Organization (WHO) identified on Friday the new South African strain as one of concern, as it is reported to carry a high number of mutations � 32 � which possibly makes it more transmissible and dangerous. The WHO has dubbed it Omicron, the 15th letter of the Greek alphabet.