Canada adds three more African countries to Omicron-related COVID-19 travel ban

The federal government has added three more African countries to their travel ban related to the new COVID-19 variant Omicron.

Nigeria, Malawi and Egypt have been added to the list of countries where foreign nationals are barred from entering Canada if they have been to those countries in the last two weeks.

The other countries the ban is in effect for include South Africa, Mozambique, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho and Eswatini.

Canadians and permanent residents returning from the 10 countries will be tested on arrival and will need to quarantine until they get result of negative test. If they receive a negative test they can finish their quarantine at home. They will have to be tested again on their eighth day of quarantine.

Unvaccinated travellers will be required to remain in a designated quarantine facility for their entire quarantine period.

Canada is also requiring all air travelers coming into the country, apart from those from United States, to be tested at the airport even if vaccinated. They will also be required to isolate until they get their test result.

These measures go into effect on Tuesday night.

Health officials are still working with the provinces on whether to extend the testing requirement to the United States as well for both land and air travelers.

Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra said those who are traveling should keep in mind that restrictions can change quite frequently. “If they’re thinking about traveling … recognize that travel measures could change at any moment.”

“We’re all monitoring the public health situation in Canada and around the world together in real time, and we will continue to adapt health and border measures as needed,” said Minister of Public Safety Marco Mendicino.

When ask if they would consider shutting down their borders to all foreign nationals similar to what some countries like Israel have done, he said they are listening to health officials and adds the measures that are currently in place are appropriate.

“The government will never hesitate to put in place the protections that are necessary to protect Canadians from the virus,” said Mendicino. “We know that Canadians are gonna watch this very closely as are we and we’ll take whatever decisions are necessary.”

All four of the confirmed cases reported in Ottawa were related to travel from Nigeria. The confirmed case from Alberta also travelled through Nigeria.

Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said they are currently also asking the National Advisory Committee on Immunizations (NACI) about whether booster doses should be expediated in light of the new variant.

“We know that Canadians are asking increasingly about whether they should and how that should be done [to] receive boosters. And that question is obviously of greater importance now with the the new variant. So we are explicitly asking that NACI come up quickly with a revised view on where and how and to whom these vaccines should be administered.”