it means flights to england from south africa, namibia, lesotho, botswana, eswatini and zimbabwe willspended from midday friday and all six countries will be added to the red list. let's speak to paul charles, who advises numerous high—profile airlines and is a former boss at virgin atlantic. thank you forjoining us on bbc news. just tell us what this means. the government is acting as soon as possible when it gets information that gives it cause for concern. but i think the concern in the travel sector tonight, affecting the wider economy is the government is yet again falling back on blanket country measures. rather than looking at a system of individual risk. they're basically saying anyone coming from any of those six countries will have to quarantine from sunday morning orfrom saturday morning in scotland. and this is a system which was heavily criticised for most of the pandemic because it treats countries and individuals coming from countries in exactly the same way if they're fully jabbed coming from countries in exactly the same way if they're fullyjabbed or not at all. surel

two countries, the measures will also impact those travelling from namibia, zimbabwe, lesotho and eswatini our africa corresponent andrew harding reports. a technical university in pretoria, south africa, this afternoon. this is where the new variant was first properly identified, spreading fast among students. obviously, this is so overwhelming, we are all worried, but the management took a decision to suspend all social gatherings and social activities. the impact here has been swift, with many countries now following britain's lead in banning flights from south africa. so, this morning's arrivals from johannesburg and cape town could be the last for some time. it is absolutely ridiculous that they have imposed it again so quickly, without really investigating this new variant. the timing for south africa could hardly be worse. it is summer here, and the tourist industry was hoping for a big boost after two richard years of lockdowns and red listings. no wonder south africa's foreign minister has criticised the travel ban, calling it rushed, economically damaging, and are urging britain

south africa, botswana, lesotho, eswatini, zimbabwe and namibia the six countries involved.art up again but anyone coming from those countries will have to self isolate to make sure they have not had the virus. the health secretary was asked if other countries might be involved in future and he did not rule it out. we have had news this morning that israel had banned flights from a slightly different group of countries and said there had been two cases of people detected with this variant coming in from malawi, in south—east africa. that is not on the uk list so there could be some extra restrictions on some countries going forward. why has this variant emerged? we have heard well through this pandemic that if the virus was allowed, transmission was allowed to continue in community in different parts of the world that would more likely give rise to mutations, so why has this variant emerged in south africa particularly? we don't know exactly. we know that the rates of vaccination are very, very low in some parts of africa and in south africa are too low, or something of that

south africa as of midday, as well as from neighbouring namibia, zimbabwe, botswana, lesotho and eswatinithe uk health secretary sajid javid says the variant may be the most infectious yet. from what we do know there's a significant number of mutations, perhaps double the number of mutations that we have seen in the delta variant. and that would suggest that it may well be more transmissible and the current vaccines that we have may well be less effective. so are we heading for a return to tough travel restrictions? paul charles is ceo of the travel consultancy the pc agency. 20 months into the crisis, this must feel like deja vu for the industry — do travellers have more flexibilty and financial protection this time round? i think they do, there is no doubt travel firms have become much better at offering refunds or alternatives in terms of switching flights but this feels like we are going backwards at a time when things were improving. airlines were back to 60 or 70% of what they were flying pre—pandemic, tour operators and travel agents were seeing bookings return to around 80% of wha

other countries will affect travellers from there, as well as from namibia, zimbabwe, lesotho and eswatinisouth african government and scientific community have criticised the move, saying it will cause more damage than good. from there, our africa correspondent, andrew harding reports. a technical university in pretoria, south africa, this afternoon. this is where the new variant was first properly identified, spreading fast among students. obviously, this is so overwhelming, we are all worried, but the management took a decision to suspend all social gatherings and social activities. the impact here has been swift, with many countries now following britain's lead in banning flights from south africa. so, this morning's arrivals injohannesburg and cape town could be the last for some time. it is absolutely ridiculous that they have imposed it again so quickly, without really investigating this new variant. the timing for south africa could hardly be worse. it's summer here, and the tourist industry was hoping for a big boost after two wretched years of lockdowns and red listings. no wonde

government is now suspending all flights from south africa, namibia, zimbabwe, botswana, lesotho and eswatinies have been confirmed so far, and speaking in the last hour, mrjavid said the variant may be the most infectious yet. from what we do know there's a significant number of mutations, perhaps double the number of mutations that we have seen in the delta variant. and that would suggest that it may well be more transmissible and the current vaccines that we have may well be less effective. our medical editor fergus walsh is here. do we have any idea what we are dealing with at the moment? this is a raidl dealing with at the moment? this is a rapidly evolving — dealing with at the moment? this is a rapidly evolving situation. - dealing with at the moment? this is a rapidly evolving situation. this - a rapidly evolving situation. this variant was only identified a couple of days ago, but i have to say tonight this is genuinely a cause for concern but not for alarm. coronaviruses mutate all the time but this has something like 50 mutations, more than we have seen in any other variant so far,

african countries to the travel red list: south africa, namibia, zimbabwe, botswana, lesotho and eswatinitravellers from these countries won't be able to enter the uk unless they are uk or irish nationals, or uk residents. meanwhile, in the latest development, germany and the czech republic have become the latest european countries to confirm cases of the omicron variant. our health correspondent dominic hughes has more. covid variant b.i.i.529 now has a name, omicron, according to the world health organization, which met in geneva last night to discuss the threat posed by this mutation of the coronavirus. the who had advised against travel bans, stressing instead that the measures we are all so familiar with — hand hygiene, masks and social distancing — are more important than ever. what's really important as an individual is to lower your exposure. these proven public health measures have never been more important — distancing, wearing of a mask, making sure that it's over your nose and mouth, with clean hands, making sure you avoid crowded spaces, be in rooms where there's good ventila

all flights to the uk from south africa, namibia, zimbabwe, botswana, lesotho and eswatini have beenarriving in uk from those countries will have to quarantine in hotels. stock markets around the world have fallen sharply on the news. here's our transport correspondent caroline davies. gloomy skies at heathrow this morning. after months of opening up travel to some places in the world is restricted. direct flights from six countries in southern africa have been temporarily stopped. anyone already in the uk who has beenin anyone already in the uk who has been in these countries in the last ten days will need to take a pcr test. 0n the uk and irish residents who have been in these countries in the last ten days will be light and they will have to self isolate and take two pcr tests and from sunday they will have to pay to quarantine in a hotel. for those landing this morning the news came as a surprise. i feel extremely relieved because who knows how long this is going to last? i who knows how long this is going to last? , ,., ~ who knows how long this is going to last? , ., , ., last?

africa and several other countries in the region, including botswana, mozambique and zimbabwe and eswatini. those restrictions will go into effect on monday for non-u.s. citizens. dr. fauci joined peter alexander and kristen welker on "weekend today" to discuss the omicron variant. fauci says there are no cases identified in the u.s. right now, he would not be surprised if it is already here. >> we have not detected it yet. when you have a virus that is showing this degree of trans miss built and you are already having travel related cases noted in israel and belgium and other places. when you have a virus like this, it is ultimately going go all over. the issue of blocking travel from a given country is to just give us time to assess it better. that's the reason for doing that. not any reason to panic. >> meanwhile, president biden issued a statement urging americans to get vaccinated. america is leading the world in vaccinating children ages 5 to 11 and has been vaccinated teens for months now. we need more americans in all age groups to get the life-saving protection. if you have not go

european countries will affect travellers from there, as well as from namibia, zimbabwe, lesotho, and eswatiniswaziland. the south african government and scientific community have criticised the move, saying it will cause more damage than good. from there, our africa correspondent, andrew harding reports. a technical university in pretoria, south africa, this afternoon. this is where the new variant was first properly identified, spreading fast among students.— properly identified, spreading fast among students. obviously, this is so overwhelming, _ among students. obviously, this is so overwhelming, we _ among students. obviously, this is so overwhelming, we are - among students. obviously, this is so overwhelming, we are all - among students. obviously, this is i so overwhelming, we are all worried, but the management took a decision to suspend all social gatherings and social activities. the to suspend all social gatherings and social activities.— social activities. the impact he has been swift. — social activities. the impact he has been swift, with _ social activities. the impact he has b

are new additions, angola, mozambique, malawi and zambia, but we also have south africa, lesotho, eswatini anyone who is not a uk or irish citizen will not be able to come into the uk if they have been in any of those countries in the course of the last ten days. pcr testing is also coming back. that only went at the end of october. i think it was the 24th of 0ctoberfor england, the 31st for scotland, wales and northern ireland, so a relatively recent change, moving away from pcr testing to the cheaper lateral flow testing. of course, the advantage of pcr testing is that you can sequence the results of those pcr tests and that means you can identify the variant. that was seen as no longer necessary when it was removed at the end of last month, because these tests were considered to be too expensive and of course there was no variant of concern at that point and now that there is, this has been reintroduced. the other thing to bear in mind is that if you do travel and take one of these pcr tests and you have to self isolate until you get a negative result. you cannot take it and then go abo

travelers from eight countries in africa -- south africa, botswana, zimbabwe, namibia, lesotho, eswatini, mozambique, and malawi. brazil, canada, the european union, iran, and the u.k. have instituted similar bans targeting nations in southern africa. south african president cyril ramaphosa criticized the travel bans and called on wealthy nations to help poorer nations gain greater access to covid vaccines. >> the emergence of the omicron variant should be a wake-up call to the world that vaccine inequality cannot be allowed to continue. until everyone is vaccinated, everyone will continue to be at risk. instead of prohibiting travel, the rich countries of the world needs to support the efforts of developing countries, economies, that is, to access and manufacture enough vaccine doses for their people without delay. amy: south african president cyril ramaphosa speaking on sunday. we go now to cape town, south africa, where we are joined by fatima hassan, the founder and director of health justice initiative. welcome to democracy now! could you respond to, first, what has been discovered

beginning monday november 29th the united states will restrict travel from botswana, eswatini, formernd and mozambique, namibia and zimbabwe. belgium, israel and hong kong have had one case of the omicron variant within their borders and you know there is never just one. no cases have been identified in the u.s. to date. we expect omicron to be identified quickly if it emerges in the united states. this morning on weekend today, dr. anthony fauci addressed concerns about the omicron variant. >> it seems to have spread rapidly in south africa, even though the numbers are relatively small. its ability to infect people who have recovered from infection and people who have been vaccinated make us say this is something you have to pay really close attention to and be prepared for something that's serious. it may not turn out that way. >> right, but you really want to be ahead of it and that's the reason why we're doing what we're doing. >> omicron is emerging as the delta variant that continues to infect and kill many americans. in michigan, hospitals are so overwhelmed with covid-19 patie

all flights to the uk from south africa, namibia, zimbabwe, botswana, lesotho and eswatini have beeneople arriving in uk from those countries will have to quarantine in hotels. stock markets around the world have fallen sharply on the news. here's our business correspondent, caroline davies. gloomy skies at heathrow this morning. after months of opening up, travel to some places in the world is restricted. direct flights from six countries in southern africa have been temporarily stopped. anyone already in uk who has been in these countries in the last ten days will need to to take a pcr test. from noon today, only uk and irish residents who have been in these countries in the last ten days will be let in, and they will need to self—isolate and take two pcr tests. from sunday at liam, they will need to pay to quarantine in a hotel. for those landing this morning, the news came as a surprise. i feel extremely relieved because who knows how long this will last. i literally found when i spoke to my wife about ten minutes ago, she told me that there is no flights going out of south afric

the uk will halt all flights from south africa, namibia, zimbabwe, botswana, lesotho and eswatini thisfrom sunday, travellers arriving in england from those countries will have to quarantine. germany's restrictions will begin tonight. cases have been identified in south africa, hong kong and botswana so far. but no cases have been confirmed in the uk. britain's health secretary, sajid javid, says the variant has a significant number of mutations, which means it could be more transmissible, and that current vaccines could be less effective. scientists say the new variant is the "most complex that we've seen" and "the most worrying". our medical editor, fergus walsh, has this assessment of the new variant. the speed at which new and stringent travel restrictions have been imposed show just how seriously this variant is being taken. between 500 and 700 travellers arrive in the uk from south africa every day. that's where most of the cases have so far been identified and where it appears the variant may be driving a new wave of infection. it may be more transmissible than the delta variant

say, 12 o'clock and from that point, flights from south africa, botswana, zimbabwe, namibia and eswatiniof £2000 for an individual traveller. they will have to do a pcr test on the second and eighth day. there will be a scramble for people trying to get back from before sunday. if they can get a non—direct flight in, they will have to quarantine at home for ten days and take those two test. the south african government is not happy, saying this decision has been rushed before the world health organization has pronounced on this new variant and they say it could be damaging for the tourism industry is of both countries. ., ~' , ., for the tourism industry is of both countries. ., ,, , ., , . in the past few minutes, we've heard that france has cancelled a planned meeting with the home secretary this weekend, following the prime minister's letter to president macron. 0ur foreign correspondent jessica parker is in calais now. there is a meeting isn't there between the european commission and france, and it looks like the uk is not in the room? hot france, and it looks like the uk is not in