Amid warnings over a new coronavirus variant, a number of countries, including the UK, Israel, Italy and Singapore have moved to restrict travel from South Africa and other countries in the region.
In the past, governments have taken days, weeks or months to issue travel restrictions in response to new variants, The New York Times reported on Friday.
This time, restrictions came within hours after the South African authorities identified a concerning new coronavirus variant with mutations — and hours before health officials from the country were scheduled to discuss the variant with the World Health Organisation (WHO), it added.
