Families stuck after sudden decision to ban flights to and from South Africa

Hundreds of foreigners on family or business trips in South Africa desperately tried to get back home on the last available flights as several nations imposed restrictions on travellers due to the discovery of the new Omicron variant of Covid-19 in this country.

The UK announced on Thursday that all flights to and from South Africa and five neighbouring countries would be banned from Friday noon following an announcement that the new Omicron variant of Covid-19 had been detected in South Africa.

Many other countries followed suit, most of them indicating that only their own citizens would be allowed back, subject to a quarantine period.