Countries in Europe and Asia on Friday took swift action to halt travel from several African countries over a mutated COVID-19 strain that was blamed by officials for a rise in cases in South Africa. Even though the World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday cautioned against imposing travel restrictions on those countries regarding the so-called B.1.1.529 variant, the European Union announced it would propose stopping air travel from southern Africa. “It is now important that all of us in Europe act very swiftly, decisively, and united,” the chief of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said in a Twitter post on Friday. The 27-member bloc of nations should place the “emergency brake” on travel, she argued. The United Kingdom, meanwhile, implemented travel restrictions to and from South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), and Lesotho, officials announced Friday. In Japan, officials confirmed Friday that they would place a 10-day quarantine …