South Korea has restricted visa issuance and arrivals from eight African countries to block the inflow of the new coronavirus variant Omicron.

The government made the decision on Saturday in an emergency meeting with 13 ministries to assess the inflow of the potentially more contagious variant.

Starting 12 a.m. Sunday, South Africa, which identified the variant first, are subject to visa restrictions and tougher quarantine measures, along with seven nearby countries – Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi.

Under the move, the government will minimize visa issuance for these countries and place a mandatory quarantine on South Korean arrivals for ten days at designated facilities regardless of their vaccination status.

South Korean passengers from the countries must present the negative PCR test result before departure and take the test on Day 1 and Day 5 after arrival and before they are released from quarantine.

Foreign travelers who attempt to visit South Korea from the eight countries via other countries will be banned from boarding their flights, and even if they board the flights, their entry into South Korea will be denied.