The government has lifted the travel restrictions on eight African countries, with immediate effect.

This was announced by Health Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton at last evening’s (December 15) Covid Conversations Press Briefing.

On November 27, the government announced the ban on travel from Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho , Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe, following concerns about the emergence of the Omicron variant of the Coronavirus.

Dr. Tufton said the ban was never intended to be a permanent arrangement. It was to slow down the entry and to understand and prepare for the variant.

He said with Omicron now in over 70 countries, there is no value to having a ban on one part of the world.