Grenada, Trinidad and Tobago imposes restrictions on African countries over discovery of new variant

The government of two Caribbean nations have come together to ban the entry of any African citizen or any person with travel history to Africa. This comes after the World Health Organization (WHO) raised the alarm after a new COVID-19 mutant variant was discovered in Africa.  The new variant has been named Omicron; it is by far the most infectious variant of COVID-19. There are speculations that the current coronavirus vaccines are not effective on the new Omicron variant. The government of Grenada imposed restrictions on six African countries, while Trinidad and Tobago prohibited entry of eight countries. African countries banned by Grenada

1. Botswana
2. Eswatini (formerly Swaziland)
3. Lesotho
4. Namibia
5. South Africa
6. Zimbabwe

African countries banned by Trinidad and Tobago

1.  Malawi
2. Mozambique
3. Botswana
4. Eswatini (formerly Swaziland)
5. Lesotho
6. Namibia
7. South Africa
8. Zimbabwe

The restrictions were effective immediately from midnight of 26 November 2021. The government of Trinidad and Tobago stated that people who are not citizens or permanent residents of Trinidad and Tobago andhave visited the countries listed above within a fourteen (14) day time period of their arrival in Trinidad and Tobago will not be allowed entry in the country. While citizens or permanent representatives who visited the listed countries within a fourteen (14) day time period of their arrival in Trinidad and Tobago will be allowed entry into Trinidad and Tobago, they will require a mandatory state-supervised quarantine of no less than 14 days.