South Africa's government says the travel ban because of a new mutation of the COVID-19 virus detected in the country - now dubbed Omicron - is unjustified.
The World Health Organization has called it a "virus of concern" and it has been blamed for a new wave of coronavirus cases in South Africa.
A growing number of countries have banned flights from eight nations in southern Africa.
But many travellers have been caught out by the sudden bans.
Al Jazeera's @Fahmida Miller reports from Johannesburg, South Africa.

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