Cambodia imposes travel ban on 10 African countries over omicron variant

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) – Amid growing concern over the new omicron coronavirus variant, Cambodia has imposed a travel ban on 10 African countries.

The temporary measure will come into effect from Wednesday and applies to Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Angola, and Zambia, the Health Ministry said on Monday night.

The restrictions will also extend to passengers coming from or transiting through these countries.

“Those who have a travel history to these 10 countries in the past three weeks are also banned from entering Cambodia by air or land or water,” the ministry said.

The omicron strain, identified by South African scientists last week, carries a very high risk of infection, according to the World Health Organization.

Its emergence has sparked worldwide panic, with countries rushing to close down borders and tightening restrictions.

Cambodia has brought its COVID-19 situation under relative control by fully vaccinating or giving a first dose to its targeted 10 million population.

It reported 22 new infections and five deaths on Tuesday, raising the overall count to 120,134, including 2,940 fatalities.