The White House on Friday announced the U.S. will restrict travel from South Africa and seven other African nations starting Monday. Senior administration officials said the policy is being put in place “out of an abundance of caution in light of a new COVID-19 variant circulating in Southern Africa.”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -2.53% fell about 900 points on Friday on concerns over the new variant, which the World Health Organization has named omicron. The seven other countries are Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi. Administration officials said the new policy doesn’t apply to U.S. citizens or permanent residents. A White House official said President Joe Biden has been briefed on the new COVID variant.