A new coronavirus variant identified in southern Africa is leading to a new round of travel restrictions just as globally many had finally begun to ease.

02:24

UK bans travel from South Africa after emergence of new heavily-mutated Covid-19 variant

UK bans travel from South Africa after emergence of new heavily-mutated Covid-19 variant

The moves have renewed a debate over whether flight bans and other travel restrictions work to prevent the spread of new variants. Some say at best the restrictions can buy time for new public health measures to be put in place. At worst, they do little to stop the spread and give a false sense of security.

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said it strongly discouraged imposing travel bans on people coming from countries where the variant was reported.

Do travel restrictions work?

They might buy countries more time to speed up vaccinations and introduce other measures, like masking and social distancing, but they are highly unlikely to prevent the entry of new variants, said Mark Woolhouse, a professor of infectious diseases at the University of Edinburgh.

“Travel restrictions can delay but not prevent the spread of a highly transmissible variant,” he said.