President Joe Biden announced on Monday that he doesn’t expect the US to have more travel restrictions and lockdowns over the omicron variant—at least for now. On Monday, the US announced a temporary ban on visitors coming from several southern African countries. Countries included in the list are Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique, and Malawi.
This announcement by Biden sent some airline stocks higher. United gained 0.7% while Delta and American still slid by 0.4% and less than 0.1% respectively.
Shares of discount airlines that don’t offer long-haul international flights jumped after Biden’s announcement. Spirit gained 3.3% while Sun Country increased by 2.9%.
On Friday, airline and other travel-related stocks dropped after several countries announced their new travel restrictions.
However, Biden also said on Monday that the variant’s spread will determine if more travel restrictions are needed. Biden said that “I don’t anticipate that at this point”. He also doesn’t think that a lockdown is necessary.
The new travel restriction came after the US finally loosened its travel rules a few weeks ago. Airline executives said then that the bookings surged when the US initially lifted its travel restrictions earlier this month.
Numerous countries already reported omicron cases. Israel, Hong Kong, and Canada are among the countries that already discovered omicron cases. Both Israel and Japan implemented strict travel restrictions, temporarily prohibiting foreign travelers to enter the countries.
A few months ago, US domestic travel demand returned in the US as vaccines became widely available. Also, during Thanksgiving, the number of travelers was close to 2019 levels. However, the discovery of the omicron variant could potentially slow down the recovery of the travel industry including airlines.
According to the World Health Organization, there is evidence suggesting a higher probability of reinfection with omicron compared with the other COVID19 variants. It also says that the global risk of the omicron variant is “very high”. But on Sunday, it is not yet clear whether the omicron is more transmissible or if it can cause more severe disease than other variants. WHO added that “vaccines remain critical to reducing severe disease and deaths”.
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