SKorea to restrict visa issuance, arrivals from 8 African countries

South Korea's government restricted on Sunday the issuance of visas and travel from Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe amid the spread of the new Omicron coronavirus variant, Yonhap news agency reported.

Travellers from these countries will have to undergo a 10-day compulsory quarantine at a special facility and will have to conduct three PCR tests.

Multiple countries worldwide have suspended travel from southern Africa amid the spread of the new coronavirus variant.

The variant was identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday as one of concern, as it is reported to carry a high number of mutations -- 32 -- which possibly makes it more transmissible and dangerous. The WHO has dubbed it Omicron, the 15th letter of the Greek alphabet.