Canada Inflicted Travel Ban to More Countries Due To The Omicron Variant

As announced by the government of Canada, there will be several more countries that have been added to the list currently subject to tighter border measures. Nigeria, Malawi, and Egypt are added to the list of Canada’s travel ban along with the seven African countries, namely, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Eswatini, Namibia, Botswana, and Lesotho whose restriction was recently implemented. As of now, all foreign nationals who have traveled to the mentioned countries over the last 14 days will no longer be permitted to enter Canada.

As for the Canadian citizens as well as permanent residents who have traveled to any of the aforementioned countries will have to present a negative result of their PCR test before being allowed to travel and enter Canada. In addition to this, the said travelers will be facing more tests and undergo quarantine measures upon their arrival to the country. Individuals who travelled by air, except those who are coming from the United States, will have to undergo testing at the airport in which they will land in Canada regardless of their Canadian immigration and vaccination status. Aside from the PCR tests that they need to get within 72 hours of their travel to Canada, they will also need to do self-isolation until their negative test result has been confirmed. These measures also apply to all Canadian citizens as well as permanent residents regardless of their vaccination status.

This tighter measure is due to the new variant of COVID-19, Omicron, that was discovered in South Africa last week that caused alarm and concerns around the globe. Currently, it is still unknown how contagious this new variant is, nor how dangerous or whether it is resistant to vaccines or not. To date, five confirmed cases of the Omicron COVID-19 variant have been recorded in Canada while several other cases are under investigation.