South Africa has been removed from France’s red list of countries on Wednesday, January 5. France imposed a travel ban on the Africa nation, after the discovery of the Omicron COVID-19 variant.
According to the French embassy in South Africa, the decision comes after the cases relating to the Omicron variant subsided. The embassy said in a statement that was published on social media that all vaccinated passengers can now travel to France without a compelling reason.
“Proof of vaccination status, a sworn statement confirming the absence of COVID-19 symptoms and of contact with a COVID-19 positive case, a negative PCR or Antigen test taken less than 48 hours prior to departure of the first flight.
“Non-vaccinated passengers must present a compelling reason to travel and quarantine for 10 days on arrival,” the statement said.
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The Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority (MTPA) also confirmed that the COVID-19 travel ban imposed by their government on South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia will be lifted on Friday, January 7.
According to MTPA Director, Arvind Bundhun, commercial passenger flights from these countries to Mauritius can resume.
“We are very pleased that South Africans can once again travel to Mauritius. The Covid-19 has placed significant pressure on all nations to do the right thing and we thank South Africans and the South African travel industry for their patience in this regard,” Bundhun said.
Meanwhile, the United States Government have also removed eight southern African countries from their red list on Friday, December 31. Their decision came after their government barred all non-US citizens who had been in South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi over the new COVID-19 variant that was detected in South Africa.
White House spokesman, Kevin Munoz, said in a tweet that the decision was recommended by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.
“The restrictions gave us time to understand Omicron and we know our existing vaccines work against Omicron,” the tweet said.
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