Blog

The EU takes Southern African countries off the no-travel list

On January 11, 2022 / by Andrew Wicks / Leave a comment

The EU has agreed to take southern African countries off its no-travel list, as omicron cases in the European bloc soar. Travelers coming from Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe will still have to show negative PCR tests taken no more than 72 hours earlier, in line with rules for most other countries.

The EU’s “emergency brake” travel ban on the seven African countries was imposed on November 26, days after the more contagious omicron variant of the coronavirus was first detected in southern Africa.

EU leaders have said the restriction was necessary to slow omicron’s spread into Europe to give time for booster shots to be rolled out at an accelerated pace. As of Monday, data plotted by Oxford University’s OurWorldinData project showed the latest COVID wave — exacerbated by omicron — peaked three to four weeks ago in all the southern African countries except for Botswana, where reported cases were still rising.

In several EU countries, including Belgium, Denmark and France, omicron has in the last couple of weeks become the dominant variant. In most of the European Union, however, delta is still the dominant variant but is quickly being supplanted by omicron.

COVID cases overall are climbing swiftly across the bloc as it enters the coldest part of winter. Hospitalisations and deaths from COVID are rising at a much reduced pace, which is attributed to widespread vaccination and booster-shot programs.

There are still concerns, however, that national health systems in EU countries could become saturated as large numbers of people come down with omicron, and that schools and workplaces could suffer. Those concerns have prompted individual EU countries to impose stricter entry requirements for travellers coming in from outside the European Union.

Within the bloc, an EU Digital Covid certificate is used to facilitate travel, with an emphasis on vaccinations and boosters.

If you’re looking for assistance with your visa, we’re here to help! By using an immigration consultant, you also get the peace of mind of knowing that your application is in the hands of someone up to date on all immigration legislation. Our immigration consultants in South Africa know relocation procedures back to front.

If you’re looking to use an Immigration Consultant in South Africa for all your immigration needs, make sure you get in touch with us today!

The following two tabs change content below.
Andrew Wicks

Andrew Wicks

Over the past 11 years, Andrew’s entrepreneurial spirit, as well as his business acumen, has led to the establishment of small to medium enterprises worldwide. Promising opportunities in the fields of IT, mobile distribution and advertising (amongst others) have been converted into successful business units in a variety of global markets. Andrew returned to South Africa after seven years in Europe to found Initiate International. He remains totally hands-on and has expanded the company across three continents.

Comments are closed here.