EU ends omicron travel ban on flights from southern Africa

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union has ended travel restrictions on flights from southern Africa well over a month after imposing it on hopes of containing the spread of the omicron variant of the corona virus. The highly contagious variant was first discovered in southern Africa in late November and the 27-nation bloc restricted travel for visitors from that region, where the variant brought on a sudden surge of infections. Omicron has since become the dominant variant and is responsible in the EU and many other nations for a unprecedent increase in infections. That made the travel ban from southern Africa a moot point. It was ended Monday.