New Covid variant: Israel imposes travel ban on passengers from most of Africa

Israel on Friday issued a travel ban that barred travellers from almost all African countries from coming to Israel. The move was taken in the wake of the occurrence of a new coronavirus variant which is considered to be more contagious than the dreaded Delta strain.

Under the travel restrictions, all African countries, except those in North Africa were added to Israel's "red list" of high-risk countries.

"We are currently on the verge of a state of emergency," Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said, according to a statement from his office, before expanding a ban he announced on Thursday on the entry of foreigners from seven African countries and Israelis' travel to them.

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Bennett, who met Israeli health experts before the edicts were announced, said there were a few cases of the new variant reported in Israel.

The new Covid variant, being referred to as 'Nu' variant, has created panic across the world. Even World Health Organisation (WHO) has gone into a huddle to decide next course of action.

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The infection for the Nu variant was first detected in South Africa.

The coronavirus variant which has got the designation of B.1.1.529 has been reported to have shown more mutations than previously identified variants. Since it was mutations that created obstacles in the path of developing vaccines, the Nu variant has made scientists around the world take notice.