At least five countries and airlines, including Germany and
Turkey, are reported to have banned flights from South Africa on Monday over
the discovery of a new variant of the coronavirus.
South Africa's health department said last week that a new
genetic mutation of Covid-19 had been found in the country and may be
responsible for a recent surge in infections.
Sudan will ban travellers from South Africa, Britain and the
Netherlands from December 23 due to the discovery of a new variant of the
coronavirus, the head of the civil aviation authority told Reuters on Monday.
The ban will last three weeks subject to renewal and more
countries could be added to the list as the situation develops, Ibrahim Adlan
said.
According to AFP, Switzerland on Monday imposed an entry ban
on arrivals from Britain and South Africa and ordered retroactive quarantine
for all arrivals from the countries since December 14.
"Following the discovery of a new, more contagious
variant of the coronavirus in the UK and South Africa, the Federal Council
today decided to take steps to prevent the further spread of this new virus
strain," it said in a statement.
"All persons who have entered Switzerland from these
two countries since December 14 must go into quarantine for 10 days.
"The Federal Council has also introduced a general
entry ban from today for all foreign nationals seeking to enter Switzerland
from the UK and South Africa. This is intended in particular to stop travel
from these countries for tourism purposes."
Following a suspension announced on Sunday, the government
said air travel between Switzerland and Britain and South Africa was now
prohibited.
"A temporary derogation from the flight ban is being considered
for persons resident in the UK or South Africa currently staying in Switzerland
so that they may return home" -- and vice versa for Swiss residents,"
the government said.
"However, it is imperative that such return journeys do
not lead to infections."
Germany said it planned to impose restrictions on flights
from and to South Africa and Britain, where the new strain has also been
identified.
El Salvador on Sunday said it was banning travellers who
have been in either country in the last 30 days or whose flights included a
layover in them.
Business Insider said that Israel, Turkey, Germany and Saudi
Arabia had all also halted air travel to and from South Africa.
Rogan Cowan from Cape Town had been due to fly with his wife
to Luxembourg on Boxing Day to begin a new job as an analyst at an asset
management firm.
But that plan is now up in the air, Cowan told Reuters as
the 27-year-old has not even been able to confirm if his scheduled flight has
been cancelled.
"This has thrown us upside down. I'm just trying to
figure out what's happening... I haven't even thought about all the knock on
effects," Cowan said.
Aviation experts said they expected more airlines and
countries to follow suit, at least until more was known.