Ford calls on feds to ban flights from countries linked to new COVID variant

Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling for immediate action at federal borders, in an effort to combat a new worrying COVID-19 variant first detected in southern Africa.

Ford is calling on a ban of all flights from countries where the variant has been detected and says Canada also needs to re-implement testing for all passengers arriving in Canada, regardless of where they come from.

“We cannot repeat the same mistakes that allowed the Alpha and Delta variants to enter our country,” Ford said in a statement. “Our best defense right now is stopping this variant at the border.”

Ford said he contacted Ottawa about his concerns over the B.1.1.529 variant, after he was briefed about the potential “variant of concern” with Ontario’s chief medical officer.

In the meantime, he says anyone arriving from the countries where the variant has been detected should be “tested and quarantined.”

“I’ve asked the Chief Medical Officer of Health and Public Health Ontario to immediately implement expanded surveillance and update scenario planning to ensure we are ready for any outcome,” Ford added.

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Alberta Premier Jason Kenney echoed the call from Ford saying Canada must not repeat the mistake of its open-borders policy at the beginning of the global pandemic.

Advisers to the World Health Organization are holding a special session Friday to discuss the new variant, it is potentially more transmissible and more resistant to the vaccine, though a top expert said its impact on vaccines may not be known for weeks.

Belgium reported the first confirmed case of the variant in Europe, cases have also been confirmed in Hong Kong.

Its concern has caused stock markets to swoon and led the European Union to recommend a pause in flights to southern Africa.

The U.K. banned flights from several African nations and Dr. Anthony Fauci says the United States is looking into some form of a travel ban as well — though nothing has been decided yet.

“You’re prepared to do everything you need to do to protect the American public,” said Fauci. “But you want to make sure there is a basis for doing that.”

WHO could decide if it the mutation is a “variant of concern” — the most worrying type, like the well-known delta variant — or a “variant of interest,” and whether to use a Greek letter to classify it.

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With files from The Associated Press