In the wake of the escalating Covid-19 variant, RwandAir has announced it will not board passengers from South Africa and Zimbabwe travelling to Dubai. The decision by the national carrier comes after United Arab Emirates banned travellers from the Sothern African countries. “Effective 29th November 2021, passengers originated from Zimbabwe and South Africa will not be allowed to enter United Arab Emirates,” RwandAir said in a statement. The airline said that the affected passengers will be offered the option to rebook and fly at a later date with no additional cost or request for a refund. The outbreak of the new Covid-19 variant known as Omicron prompted Rwanda to reinstate a 24-hour quarantine for all the travellers entering the country. The new variant of the coronavirus is identified as B.1.1.529 and was first reported in the South African region on November 25. Preliminary data suggest the Omicron variant may be more infectious than the Delta, and also have multiple mutations. The new variant was named during the World Health Organisation meeting that took place on Friday which convened experts to assess the new variant. Omicron has been confirmed in multiple countries including South Africa, Botswana, Hong Kong, Israel and Belgium. Rwanda Biomedical Centre has warned Rwandans about the variant and encouraged them to continue taking Covid-19 precautionary measures such as taking vaccines, wearing facemasks, using hand sanitisers and taking tests to know their status.
