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By Travel Reporter 
1 hour ago
With South Africa experiencing a new variant of the coronavirus that is driving the second wave of infections, many countries have decided to close their borders to South African travelers.
Health Minister Zweli Mkhize tweeted last Friday: “A variant of the SARS-COV-2 virus, currently named variant 501.V2, has been identified by our genomics scientists here in South Africa. The evidence that has been collected, therefore, it strongly suggests that the current second wave we are experiencing is driven by this new variant. “
Since then, many destinations have closed their borders to South Africans, these are some of the countries that you cannot visit:
Mauricio
The Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority announced that non-resident travelers coming from South Africa and the United Kingdom or who have been in transit there during the last 14 days (as of December 21, 2020) will not be able to enter the territory of Mauritius until December 31st. 2020.
This follows the continued and rapid spread of the Covid-19 virus in the UK and South Africa and the new variant of the coronavirus called the 501.v2 variant. “We wish to assure you that all precautionary measures are being taken to protect Mauritian residents and other travelers,” the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority revealed in a statement.
Switzerland
The Swiss government has imposed an entry ban on South African and British citizens.
The government said in a statement on Monday, December 21: “Following the discovery of a new, more contagious variant of the coronavirus in the UK and South Africa, the Federal Council today decided to take action to prevent further spread of this new virus.
All people who have entered Switzerland from these two countries since December 14 must be quarantined for 10 days. The Federal Council has also introduced a general entry ban as of today for all foreign nationals who wish to enter Switzerland from the UK and South Africa. This is intended, in particular, to stop travel from these countries for tourism purposes. “
The Federal Office of Civil Aviation FOCA ordered the suspension of flights between Switzerland and these two countries as of December 20.
A temporary waiver of the flight ban is being considered for UK or South African residents who are currently in Switzerland so they can return home.
Turkey
Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca revealed that the country has temporarily suspended flights from South Africa, the UK, Denmark and the Netherlands.
Turkish Airlines CEO Bilal Eksi said on Twitter that passengers should not “rush into ticket transactions. He posted:” Based on our Health Ministry’s decision to suspend flights from England, Denmark, the Netherlands and South Africa, kindly request that none of our passengers rush through ticket transactions. None of our passengers will be a victim of ticket transactions. “
Germany
German Health Minister Jens Spahn tweeted on Monday that South Africans will not be allowed to travel to the UK. He tweeted: “As a precautionary measure, UK and South African air, sea and rail passengers are not allowed to travel to Germany after midnight. This will apply until we know more about the #coronavirus mutations reported in both countries.”
Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the country has stopped flights from South Africa, the United Kingdom and Denmark.
He said on Twitter: “We are doing everything we can to prevent the entry of the new crown mutation in Israel. We close the skies to all flights to Israel from the UK, Denmark and South Africa. These are the countries where the mutation is present.” . If necessary, we will add more countries. “
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia has suspended flights until the end of the year, but will extend them if cases increase.
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