The Bureau of Immigration has announced that it will start barring travelers from South Africa and six other countries starting November 28.

The prohibition covers passengers from South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Eswatini, and Mozambique.

This is in compliance with the recent directive from the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Disease banning travelers from said countries to keep out the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente added: "Those with a travel history from these countries within the last 14 days will likewise be disallowed entry." 

The restriction was placed on inbound international flights from the said countries with local cases or with likelihood of occurrences of the Omicron variant.

The BI chief also clarified that there remains an existing travel ban on Faroe Islands and Netherlands until December 15. Morente said they will wait for IATF directive on whether to extend or lift it.

Meanwhile the National Task Force against COVID-19 said that they are waiting  for an announcement from the IATF on the inclusion of flights from Hong Kong in the travel ban, following a the discovery of an Omicron case there.

The World Health Organization explained that the Omicron variant "has a large number of mutations, some of which are concerning."