Omicron: Canada Bans Travellers From Nigeria, Two Other African Countries

Canada has placed a ban travellers from three African countries; Nigeria, Egypt and Malawi. The Canadian Health Minister, Jean-Yves Duclos told reporters that foreign nationals who have spent time or transited those countries in the past two weeks cannot enter the country.

The country has identified six people with the new variant, at least three of whom were recently in Nigeria.

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In a press briefing, Duclos revealed that;

“All air travelers coming from outside Canada, apart from the United States, will now need to be tested at the airport (where) they are landing in Canada.

“They will then need to isolate themselves until they get the results of their test.”

Duclos also said the Liberal government would talk to the 10 provinces to see whether the testing requirement could if required be extended to cover everyone entering the country, both by air and across the U.S. land border.

The western Canadian province of Alberta has confirmed one case of the omicron variant, chief medical officer Deena Hinshaw told reporters on Tuesday. Hinshaw said the person was asymptomatic and had recently traveled from Nigeria and the Netherlands.

Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said foreign nationals who had been to Nigeria, Malawi and Egypt in the previous 14 days would be temporarily banned from entering Canada.

Last week Ottawa barred travelers who had recently been to South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

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He added that, “Canadians and permanent residents who have been in the 10 countries, even those who are fully vaccinated, must also be tested before entering Canada.”