New Covid tensions: The travel ban has sparked criticism from South Africa. (File)
Riyadh:
Saudi Arabia on Friday was one of a number of countries in the Middle East and North Africa to ban travelers from several African countries due to concerns about a new coronavirus variant.
Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry and authorities in the United Arab Emirates said travelers from seven African countries have been barred from entering.
They list the countries as South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Lesotho and Eswatini.
The official Saudi press agency said the Saudi ban covers flights to and from those countries, citing an Interior Ministry official.
However, it said that foreign nationals from seven countries could enter the kingdom if they had spent the previous 14 days in another country and followed Saudi health protocols.
Emirati’s official WAM news agency said the UAE’s ban will take effect on Monday and will only be available to travelers from those African countries, regardless of airline and that includes transit passengers.
The official BNA news agency said Bahrain had announced similar measures targeting six African countries, including South Africa.
The Jordanian Ministry of Interior, acting on the recommendation of the Ministry of Health, also announced a ban on non-Jordanian travelers from South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Lesotho and Eswatini.
The Kingdom of Morocco in North Africa has banned visitors from those countries due to concerns about a novel coronavirus variant discovered in South Africa.
A series of countries, including the United States and European countries, have announced similar bans, sparking criticism from South Africa.
South Africa’s Health Minister Joe Phaahla told reporters: “We believe some of the responses were unwarranted.
The United Nations World Health Organization on Friday declared the recently discovered strain of Covid-19 a worrying variant, renaming it Omicron.
This variant is thought to be responsible for the increase in new cases in South Africa, but has emerged in Hong Kong, Belgium, Israel and Botswana.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from an aggregated feed.)
