Philippines bans travelers from seven African nations

The Philippines has banned travelers from seven African countries starting November 26 to prevent the entry of the new COVID-19 variant, Omicron.

South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Eswatini, and Mozambique are included in the ban which will be in effect until December 15.

The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases approved the temporary suspension of inbound international flights from these countries with local cases or likelihood of occurrences of the new variant.