As COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations continue to surge in the United States, health experts say travel bans will do little to stop the spread of the virus.
On Monday, the Biden administration announced it would restrict travel from eight southern African countries starting at midnight on Monday. The countries are Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
The decision was made in response to the emergence of the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus, which was first identified in South Africa last week. The variant has since been detected in several other countries, including the United States.
However, health experts say travel bans are not an effective way to stop the spread of the virus. They point out that the Omicron variant is already present in the United States, and that travel bans will only delay its spread by a few days.
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