South Africa is currently facing more travel restrictions than any other country in the world. Travel to approximately 120 countries is either prohibited or strictly limited to emergency exemptions in line with the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the latest data provided by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which tracks global travel regulations in real-time, while some countries ease border closures, travelling from South Africa is still highly restricted.
After the first wave of COVID-19 was announced to have been getting weaker, new variants of the virus such as 501Y.V2 were detected and this brought even harder travel restrictions on travellers from South Africa.
501Y.V2, also known as the South African variant, is considered more transmissible than the initial virus and in attempts to minimise the spread of the newly discovered variant, travel bans expanded to other countries and have been consistently extended.
Alongside the 120 restrictions into other countries, South Africans also face 97 moderate restrictions which include testing and quarantine protocols.
