Dr. Fauci defends travel restrictions over Omicron variant

Dr. Anthony Fauci was pressed during Wednesday’s White House press briefing about why the Biden administration restricted travel to the US from eight nations in southern Africa — when only two of them have reported cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19.

“There are zero cases of COVID — of Omicron in Zimbabwe, in Namibia, in Lesotho, in Mozambique,” asked Simon Ateba of Today News Africa. “What justifies imposing a travel ban on countries that have zero cases of the Omicron variant?”

“You know that’s a very good question and important question, and we did struggle with that,” Fauci answered. “But we wanted to see if we could buy time temporarily, so I do hope that this gets sorted out and lifted before it has any significant impact on your country.”

African leaders and global health officials have slammed the travel restrictions, using language similar to statements by then-candidate Biden after former President Donald Trump restricted travel to and from China and Europe in the early days of the pandemic.

In February 2020, one day after Trump announced restrictions on travel from China, Biden tweeted: “We are in the midst of a crisis with the coronavirus. We need to lead the way with science — not Donald Trump’s record of hysteria, xenophobia, and fear-mongering.”

“A wall will not stop the coronavirus. Banning all travel from Europe — or any other part of the world — will not stop it. This disease could impact every nation and any person on the planet — and we need a plan to combat it,” the former vice president tweeted in March.

Biden ultimately kept restrictions in place until November — long after Trump wanted to end them.

The eight countries covered by the latest ban are Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Eswatini and Zimbabwe. Of those, only South Africa and Botswana have confirmed cases of the Omicron variant.

Over the weekend, Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera called the restrictions a case of “Afrophobia.”

“We are all concerned about the new Covid variant and owe South Africa’s scientists our thanks for identifying it before anyone else did,” he said in a Facebook post Sunday. “But the unilateral travel bans now imposed on SADC [Southern African Development Community] countries by the UK, EU, US, Australia, and others are uncalled for. Covid measures must be based on science, not Afrophobia.”

Fauci was also asked during the briefing about New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s recent order postponing elective surgeries in hospitals where capacity is limited ahead of an expected COVID surge during the winter months.

“I really don’t want to comment on situations in individual states because there are so many factors from state to state that are different,” he responded. “I don’t think it would be appropriate for me to comment whether a state should or should not postpone elective surgeries.”

The statement represented a change of tune for Fauci, who previously opined on the actions of officials in several states during the height of the pandemic. In March, for example, the White House health authority criticized Texas and Mississippi for lifting mask mandates, calling it “inexplicable.”

In addition to the travel restrictions, the administration is also moving to implement new testing requirements for those heading to the US.

The move, which has not been formally announced, would require all air travelers — US citizens and foreign nationals alike — to provide a negative COVID-19 test within 24 hours of departure.

“As you advise the President about the possibility of new testing requirements for people coming into this country, does that include everybody?” Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy asked Fauci.

“The answer is yes,” Fauci said. “Because you know that the new — the new regulation, if you want to call it that, is that anybody and everybody who’s coming into the country needs to get a test within 24 hours of getting on the plane to come here.”

“What about people who don’t take a plane — just these border crossers coming in in huge numbers?” Doocy pushed.

“That’s a different issue,” responded Fauci, deflecting the question.