Vaccinated South Africans May Soon Be Allowed to Travel to the United States
- South Africa is among a few countries that will soon be allowed to travel to the United States of America
- The US says it will only allow travellers that have received all their Covid 19 jabs to enter the country
- Travellers will be mandated to also produce a negative Covid test and will be required to quarantine after arrival
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JOHANNESBURG - The United States of America has committed to lifting the travel ban imposed on South Africans by November but only citizens who have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus will be allowed to enter the country.
The US government had initiated travel ban restrictions on a number of countries over a year ago and has announced that some of the countries who were previously banned from travelling to the country will now be allowed to enter the US.
Source: Getty Images
Countries that have now been removed from the US's travel ban list include India, Brazil, China, Iran, Ireland, the UK as well as 26 European countries, according to a report by Fin24.
People who seek to go to the US will have to undergo a Covid 19 test 72 hours before leaving their home country for the US and said the test should produce negative results. Travellers will need to be in quarantine for 10 days on arrival in the US.
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White House Covid 19 response coordinator Jeff Zients told the media on Monday that decision to forego the previous travel restriction rules is based on the knowledge that Covid 19 vaccines have been proven to be effective against the Delta variant, according to a report Business Tech.
Zients also reassured American citizens that the White House was using all the tools available to them to protect Americans against the coronavirus while ensuring that international travel can be done safely.
The White House is yet to announce the exact date the travel ban will be lifted.
UK'S red list travel restrictions actively cost South Africa millions daily
Briefly News previously reported that the United Kingdom's Red List system is actively costing South Africa upwards of R26 million daily; bringing the total accumulated losses for South Africa to over R2.4 billion since the implementation of the system by the UK in May 2020.
As it stands, the Red List contains 60 countries, including South Africa. Individuals from these Red List countries are barred from entering the UK, except if they happen to be British or Irish nationals or are residents of the UK.
These exceptions however still require a compulsory quarantine for a period of 10 days in a state-managed hotel.
The UK has typically been considered South Africa's biggest source market for tourists as upwards of 430 000 UK travellers entered South Africa in 2019. The shutdown on international travel between April and December 2020 as a result of Covid-19 saw UK arrivals decline by 97%.
Additionally, less than 8 000 UK travellers entered South Africa during the initial five months of 2021.
Source: Briefly News
