SOUTH AFRICA’S PRESIDENT CALLS FOR LIFTING OF OMICRON TRAVEL BANS

South Africa’s president has condemned travel bans enacted against his country and its neighbours over the new coronavirus variant Omicron. Cyril Ramaphosa said he was deeply disappointed by the action, which he described as unjustified, and called for the bans to be urgently lifted.

The UK, EU and US are among those who have imposed travel bans on the country. Omicron has been classed as a variant of concern with early evidence suggesting it has a higher re-infection risk. The heavily mutated variant was detected in South Africa earlier this month and then reported to the World Health Organization, WHO, last Wednesday.

Meanwhile, South Africa has reported 2,800 new infections on Sunday, a rise from the daily average of 500 in the previous week.