The administration will restrict travel from South Africa and seven other countries starting on Monday, according to senior administration officials. In a statement, Biden called the decision a “precautionary measure until we have more information.” In addition to South Africa, the restrictions affect Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi. The policy doesn’t apply to American citizens and lawful permanent residents, though they must still test negative before travel to the U.S., according to administration officials.

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The ban may fuel concerns about the Omicron variant, which triggered a market sell-off as investors parsed emerging data about its potency and how quickly it spreads. The SP 500 closed 2.3% lower during an abbreviated session on Friday, the biggest one-day drop since February, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 Index lost 2.1%. The Bloomberg EMEA Airlines Index sank 11.3% on the day. Biden told reporters the new variant is of “great concern” because “it seems to spread rapidly.”

But he said he was “not at all” concerned about investors selling shares because it was “expected — they always do when Covid rises.” The World Health Organization listed the mutated virus, now named Omicron, as a “variant of concern” Friday as a growing list of nations moved to block travel from the region. Countries across Europe halted air travel from southern Africa earlier in the day, as did Canada.

Since the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) confirmed on Thursday afternoon that the new variant has been detected in South Africa, with 22 cases found so far, countries have been closing their borders one after the other. The United Kingdom was the first to react, announcing that South African travellers would be denied entry from midday Friday.

• UK – South Africa has been placed back on the UK’s restrictive red list, which enforces strict quarantine requirements for returning residents.
• Israel adds South Africa to its red list – only returning Israeli residents and nationals will be allowed to return home from South Africa. They will need to quarantine for a week and take two post-arrival PCR tests.
• Seychelles – Travellers from South Africa, as well as Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, and Zimbabwe, will not be permitted into Seychelles from Saturday
• Singapore announced that it too would restrict visitors with a travel history to Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, or Zimbabwe within the last 14 days. This ban, which comes into effect at midnight on Saturday, includes transiting through Singapore.
• Italy and Austria are examples of countries to which travel for South African passport holders was already prohibited. Residents and nationals returning from South Africa will be allowed to renter Italy and Austria but will be forced to quarantine for ten days, even if they are considered fully vaccinated.
• Germany has moved to declare South Africa a virus variant area on Friday- means that travellers from South Africa will be prohibited from entering Germany.
• Japan announced on Friday that it would move to tighten its borders. The exact details of this ban and when it will come into effect are, at this stage, still unknown.
• France – French Health Minister Olivier Véran announced that flights from South Africa and neighbouring countries would be suspended for 48 hours.
• Guatemala – Guatemala will impose restrictions by limiting entry to travellers from Lesotho, Mozambique, and South Africa.
• Cyprus – It said it was banning arrivals from a number of African states, including South Africa, Botswana, and Zimbabwe.
• Saudi Arabia has suspended flights to and from South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Lesotho, and Eswatini.
• Canada is closing borders to passengers from seven countries, including South Africa.
• The United States announced Friday it is restricting travel starting Monday from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique, and Malawi.