‘Meant to Be Temporary’: Surgeon General Defends U.S. Travel Bans From Southern Africa

Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy defended the U.S. maintaining the travel ban on South Africa and neighboring countries, despite the Omicron variant being detected in at least 16 states and elsewhere around the world.

“This was put in place, these restrictions in travel first, because there [was] a growing number, a rapid growing number of cases that were found in South Africa,” Murthy told CBS’ Face the Nation on Sunday. “And the travel restrictions, they don’t permanently keep the variant out. We know that.”

Host Margaret Brennan interrupted, “It’s here.”

“What travel restrictions can do is buy you some time,” Murthy continued. “They can buy you some time to do important things.”

Brennan then pressed how the Biden administration banning travel from a select group of countries was any different from former President Donald Trump‘s ban on travel only from China at the beginning of the pandemic.

The Omicron variant has been detected in 38 other countries, but only eight countries in southern Africa face U.S. travel restrictions.

“I’ve heard this from the White House, respectfully. But my question though is what we learned at the beginning of this pandemic,” Brennan said. “China is put under a travel ban. Meanwhile, in the back door, travelers coming in from Europe bringing in COVID. That was one of the facts established when we looked at pandemic preparedness.”

Brennan continued to press Murthy, noting: “You only right now have a travel ban on eight countries in southern Africa. The rest of the world is still traveling in. Omicron is already here. So if it’s a question of fairness, it’s either all countries get banned or lift the ban. And you have scientists in South Africa saying this is discriminatory.”

The president of South Africa and a WHO official are among those who criticized the U.S. decision to ban travel from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique, and Malawi.

“The only thing the prohibition on travel will do is to further damage the economies of the affected countries and undermine their ability to respond to, and recover from, the pandemic,” South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said last week.

Fauci said on Sunday that the Omicron-related bans were “done at a time when we were really in the dark” and said he is hopeful “we’ll be able to lift that ban in a quite reasonable period of time.”

Murthy said that travel bans are “meant to be temporary measures,” and argued that the time gained by instituting a travel ban allows the U.S. to “strengthen” travel measures such as testing and get more Americans vaccinated.

“Nobody wants them to be on for any longer than they need to be, and that’s why we are continuously re-evaluating them so that we can get them off as soon as it’s appropriate,” he said.

Watch above, via YouTube (near the 8-minute mark)