WASHINGTON, December 20, Reuters - The Biden administration is considering easing travel restrictions to Southern African countries because of the high U.S. infection rates of the fast-spreading Omicron variant of the coronaviruses, top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Monday.
Fauci said at the National Press Club that we likely are going to pull back on that pretty soon because we have enough infection in our own country. We are letting in people from other countries that have as much or more infection than the Southern African countries. We are going to look at that very carefully to see if we can pull back. The United States has barred nearly all foreign nationals from entering one of eight southern African countries, including South Africa, within the last 14 days.
It wasn't clear when the restrictions would be lifted, but travel industry officials said it could happen as soon as this week. The White House did not immediately make a statement.
International travelers at several airports were given free COVID 19 home test kits by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week. The CDC encourages but does not mandate international air travelers to get a new COVID 19 test upon arriving in the United States.
New rules took effect on December 6 requiring nearly all people flying to the United States to obtain a negative COVID- 19 test within a day of travel.
The CDC ordered airlines to disclose passenger names and other information about those who have recently been in the eight southern African countries.