WASHINGTON, Nov 27 (Reuters) - The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and State Department on Saturday advised against travel to eight southern African countries after the White House announced new travel restrictions in response to a new COVID-19 variant.

The CDC raised its travel recommendation to "Level Four: Very High" for South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Mozambique, Malawi, Lesotho, Eswatini and Botswana while the State Department issued parallel "Do Not Travel" advisories Saturday. On Monday, the CDC had lowered its COVID-19 travel advisory for South Africa to "Level 1: Low." (Reporting by David Shepardson; editing by Diane Craft)