COVID: France extends suspension of flights from high-risk southern African countries

France has decided to extend until at least Saturday its suspension of flights from southern African countries which have been hit hard by the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus, said French European Affairs Minister Clement Beaune. 'As of this morning, we have extended the suspension of flights from seven southern African countries until Saturday,' Beaune told RTL radio. The Omicron COVID variant - first reported in southern Africa and which the World Health Organization (WHO) said carries a 'very high' risk of infection surges - has triggered global alarm, with border closures casting a shadow over a nascent economic recovery from a two-year pandemic