Zimpapers Logo

Concerns over a new COVID-19 variant detected in South Africa have prompted fresh travel restrictions in Italy and Germany on Friday as Brussels mulls EU-wide flight restrictions.

The European Commission will propose to suspend air travel from southern Africa amid concerns over the variant, EC President Ursula Von der Leyen said on Friday.

Germany and Italy have already announced measures to restrict air travel from the region.

Rome has banned entry on its territory to anyone who has stayed in southern Africa “during the last 14 days”, said health minister Roberto Speranza, invoking “maximum precaution” in the face of the new variant.

The countries targeted by this measure are South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia and Eswatini, the minister said.

German Health Minister Jens Spahn said airlines coming from South Africa will only be able to transport German citizens.

Travellers will need to go into quarantine for 14 days whether they are vaccinated or not.

“The last thing we need is to bring in a new variant that will cause even more problems,” he said.

Outside the EU, the UK and Israel have already announced travel restrictions for the southern African region amid concerns over the new variant.

London said that it was banning flights from South Africa and five other southern African countries effective at noon on Friday and that anyone who had recently arrived from those countries would be asked to take a coronavirus test.

Scientists say is the variant is a concern because of its high number of mutations and rapid spread among young people in Gauteng, South Africa’s most populous province.

Currently identified as B.1.1.529, the new variant has also been found in Botswana and Hong Kong in travellers from South Africa.