White House lifting omicron travel ban on South Africa and seven other southern African countries

White House lifting omicron travel ban on South Africa and seven other southern African countries WASHINGTON — The U.S. will lift travel restrictions to eight southern African countries on New Year’s Eve, the White House announced Friday. The restrictions, imposed last month, were meant to blunt the spread of the COVID omicron variant. iframe.twitter-tweet { width: 100% !important; } Omicron is now spreading rapidly throughout the U.S., including among the vaccinated, but a huge majority of those being hospitalized are unvaccinated.