{"id":1065115,"date":"2021-11-29T15:29:06","date_gmt":"2021-11-29T20:29:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1065115"},"modified":"2021-11-29T15:29:28","modified_gmt":"2021-11-29T20:29:28","slug":"biden-says-omicron-variant-is-cause-for-concern-not-cause-for-panic-defends-implementation-of-travel-restrictions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-says-omicron-variant-is-cause-for-concern-not-cause-for-panic-defends-implementation-of-travel-restrictions\/","title":{"rendered":"Biden Says Omicron Variant Is \u2018Cause For Concern, Not Cause For Panic,\u2019 Defends Implementation Of Travel Restrictions"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">34<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fbiden-says-omicron-variant-is-cause-for-concern-not-cause-for-panic-defends-implementation-of-travel-restrictions%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1065115&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><\/div>\n<p>President Joe Biden said Monday that the Omicron variant is \u201cnot cause for panic\u201d while defending the administration\u2019s decision to implement travel restrictions from South Africa and seven other countries.<\/p>\n<p>Biden, giving a speech to the nation on the new variant, pushed for unvaccinated Americans to get the shot and for vaccinated individuals to get a booster. He argued that this is how Americans can be the \u201cmost protected against COVID,\u201d and though it remains unclear how effective the vaccines are against Omicron, Biden\u2019s chief medical advisor Dr. <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/11\/28\/anthony-fauci-omicron-inevitably-found-in-us\/\">Anthony Fauci<\/a> believes they will \u201cprovide a degree of protection.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The president vowed to \u201cfight and beat this new variant\u201d and told Americans that while it\u2019s a \u201ccause for concern,\u201d people should not panic. His comments coincide with the administration\u2019s quick decision to implement travel restrictions in light of the <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/11\/27\/world-health-organization-omicron-variant-nu-xi-coronavirus\/\">variant<\/a> \u2013 a move that\u2019s garnered criticism on both its effectiveness and whether it\u2019s necessary.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think you already have it there in your country,\u201d Dr. Angelique Coetzee, chair of the South African Medical Association and one of the early doctors to tell authorities about a new potential variant, said, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.realclearpolitics.com\/video\/2021\/11\/28\/south_african_doctor_who_discovered_omicron_mutation_its_all_speculation_at_this_stage.html\">according<\/a> to Real Clear Politics. \u201cYou\u2019re not even knowing it. I would say at this stage definitely [you are panicking unnecessarily]. Maybe two weeks from now I will have a different opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Biden kept his focus on pushing vaccinations and boosters but also acknowledged the travel <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/11\/26\/joe-biden-travel-restrictions-south-africa-coronavirus-variant-omicron\/\">restrictions<\/a>. Responding to a question from the press, Biden said he doesn\u2019t believe implementing such restrictions will cause other countries to be reluctant to report future variants. South Africa has been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox29.com\/news\/south-african-health-minister-calls-travel-restrictions-knee-jerk-reaction-to-variant\">critical<\/a> of travel restrictions put in place across the world in light of the new variant, with its minister of health arguing that it\u2019s \u201cnot an answer\u201d and is the \u201cwrong approach.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>WATCH:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe reason for the immediate travel ban is there were a significant number of cases, unlike any other country in the world,\u201d Biden said. \u201cWe needed time to give people an opportunity to say, get that vaccination now before it \u2013 it\u2019s gonna move around the world. I think it\u2019s almost inevitable \u2026 that that strain is here in the United States.\u201d <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/05\/13\/joe-biden-wear-mask-get-coronavirus-vaccine\/\">(RELATED:&nbsp;\u2018The Choice Is Yours\u2019: In Line With CDC\u2019s Mask Guidance, Biden Gives Americans An Ultimatum On Vaccines)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Many of the areas that the White House announced <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/11\/26\/countries-travel-restrictions-new-coronavirus-variant-south-africa\/\">travel<\/a> restrictions from have not yet reported any cases. In fact, only two of the countries \u2013 South Africa and Botswana \u2013 have reported cases so far, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2021\/11\/29\/world\/covid-omicron-variant-countries-list-cmd-intl\/index.html\">according<\/a> to a CNN report published Monday. The administration has not announced restrictions on other countries that have found Omicron cases, such as Canada and the U.K.<\/p>\n<p>The president also said he plans to put forth a detailed strategy to fight COVID-19 through the winter on Thursday. This strategy will be focused on things like vaccinations, boosters and testing, and the president was quick to note that lockdowns are off the table \u201cfor now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf people are vaccinated and wear their masks, there\u2019s no need for the lockdown,\u201d Biden said, going back to his vaccine-focused message.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Joe Biden said Monday that the Omicron variant is \u201cnot cause for panic\u201d while defending the administration\u2019s decision to implement travel restrictions from South Africa and seven other countries.Biden, &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":125,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1065115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1065115","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/125"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1065115"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1065115\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1065115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1065115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1065115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}