The US is considering lifting its South Africa travel ban as the COVID-19 Omicron variant blazes through at least 15 states and 40 countries, says White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci.
President Joe Biden locked eight South African countries out of the US last Monday in fear of the new super mutant COVID variant, and the ban remains in place despite travel remaining open to other foreign countries.
Although the Omicron variant was first identified in South Africa, it was later revealed that a case of the variant was confirmed in Europe a week before cases were detected in South Africa.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres last Wednesday said it was 'deeply unfair' to isolate a single region, calling the ban 'travel apartheid.'
But Fauci said Sunday that the restrictions were made during a time when an explosion of Omicron cases were rocking South Africa as the severity of the variant remained unknown.
He said US officials are now reevaluating the restrictions.
'When the ban was put on, it was put to give us time to figure out just what is going on,' Fauci told CNN's Jack Tapper during Sunday morning's episode of State of the Nation.
'Now as you mentioned, as we are getting more and more information about cases in our own country and worldwide, we're looking at that very carefully on a daily basis.'
White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN on Sunday that the US is reconsidering the South Africa travel ban
The outbreak of new variant in the province of Gauteng in South Africa has triggered the sharpest rise in hospitalizations of any previous wave, sparking concerns of a similar outbreak in other nations
He said he's hopeful they're keeping close tabs on the situation as they mull whether to ban is necessary.
'We all feel very badly about the hardship that might have put upon not only South Africa but the other African countries,' Fauci told CNN. 'For that reason, in real time - literally on a daily basis -we are reevaluating that policy.'
The outbreak of new variant in the province of Gauteng in South Africa has triggered the sharpest rise in hospitalizations of any previous wave, sparking concerns of a similar outbreak in other nations.
Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy on Sunday urged Americans not to panic over the new variant, but said they should continue to take precautions.
'I do think it's a reason for us to not necessarily panic but to be more vigilant and to recognize that the precautions that we have been talking about for the last year or so are all the more important now than ever,' Murthy told Fox News host Chris Wallace.
'We do know that the measures that we take to protect ourselves from the spread of COVID - including wearing masks in indoor spaces, being in well-ventilated spaces - those work and will work against omicron.'
Gauteng alone has seen over 1,000 hospital admissions in the past week, quadrupling the figure recorded just two weeks ago, while South Africa recorded a total of 1,802 hospitalizations in the past week to Friday - the latest day for which data is available.
The virus also appears to be more transmissible, with cases up from around 300 three weeks ago to nearly 7,000 on a seven-day rolling average.
Cases have soared by a massive 408 per cent in just one week while deaths rose from eight to 21 across the same time period, according to the latest
