Covid Omicron: South Africa calls travel curbs 'unjustified'

• Multiple countries imposed travel restrictions or bans on passengers arriving from South Africa. This comes after a new variant of Covid-19, Omicron, was detected recently. South Africa’s health minister Joe Phaahla called the move ‘unjustified’ & ‘counterproductive’. Passengers were seen stranded at an airport in South Africa after travel curbs. Passengers were seen waiting in the international departures terminal after flights were cancelled. US, UK, Japan, Brazil, Russia and EU have imposed travel curbs or bans on travellers from South Africa. PM Modi chaired a high-level meeting to discuss Omicron variant, India’s travel curbs. The PM asked officials to review plans to ease curbs on international travel amid Omicron concern. Omicron, the new Covid variant, was detected in South Africa recently. The new variant reportedly has a significantly high number of mutations. Omicron could be more resistant to vaccines & have increased transmissibility. The variant was reported from Botswana, Hong Kong, Israel, Belgium.