The Biden administration is feeling “very badly” about the travel ban it imposed over some southern African countries amid fears of an Omicron variant spread, Dr. Anthony Fauci admitted on CNN.
“We all feel very badly about the hardship that might have put upon not only South Africa, but the other African countries,” the expert said.
“And for that reason, in real-time, literally, in a daily basis, we’re reevaluating that policy.”
Fauci acknowledged that the step was “a preemptive measure” to try and stop the new strain from reaching American soil.
“That ban was done at a time when we were really in the dark. We had no idea what was going on, except it does seem to have been an explosion of cases of Omicron in South Africa,” Fauci explained.
“So when the ban was put on, it was put to give us time to figure out just what is going on.”
The travel ban included South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique, and Malawi.
