Amid the global scare over the new Omicron variant of Covid-19, Bangladesh has announced new travel rules, making a 14-day institutional quarantine mandatory for all travellers from seven African countries. The countries are Botswana, Eswatini, Ghana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe, the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) said on Thursday in its updated travel restriction notification. The order will come into effect Saturday. Neighbouring India Thursday reported its first two known Covid-19 cases of the Omicron variant, discovered in two men in the southern state of Karnataka. According to the new travel rules in Bangladesh, all passengers from these seven African countries will need to stay at government-designated hotels at their own expense. Also read: Omicron unravels travel industry's plans for a comeback On the seventh and 14th day of quarantine, they will have to undergo RT-PCR tests at their own expense, it said.