Biden ordered the lifting of entry restrictions to the U.S. from eight African countries

U.S. President Joe Biden has ordered the lifting of entry restrictions to the United States from eight African nations that were imposed in late November due to the detection of the omicron variant of a new coronavirus.

Starting from November 29 U.S. authorities imposed additional restrictions on flights from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi. Biden stated that these measures were taken “to slow the spread of the Omicron variant in the United States and to allow the United States to take appropriate action in light of new information about the variant.”

Biden said experts “have made great strides in understanding the Omicron variant. He also noted that the variant “has already spread to more than 100 countries and is predominant in the United States.