State Dept. issues travel warning over Omicron variant

The State Department has issued do not travel warnings for eight South African countries, including:

• South Africa
• Zimbabwe
• Namibia
• Mozambique
• Malawi
• Lesotho
• Eswatini
• Botswana

That region is where the omicron variant originated. The variant has not appeared in the United States yet, however Italy and Germany are the latest European countries to announce they’re found cases of the variant. This comes as travelers are scrambling to get back home from South Africa amid travel restrictions from their home countries.

The United States’ travel restrictions on those eight south African countries go into effect on Monday.