The Canadian health officials have 10 countries on their travelling ban list. The action is taken to contain the expanse of a mutant version of the COVID-19. Effective 30th November, Canada has restricted travel to three more countries, including Egypt, Nigeria, and Malawi.
On 30th November, the Canadian government made an announcement that they have added a few more countries to their travel ban list (these countries are subject to stricter border restrictions).
Last Friday, Canada imposed travel restrictions on seven southern African countries, and now, the Canadian government has added these three countries (Egypt, Nigeria, and Malawi) as well to this list. Effective 30th November, international travellers that have visited any of these regions within the last 2 weeks will not be permitted in Canada.
On the other hand, Canadians and permanent residents who have travelled to any of these ten countries within the last 2 weeks will be allowed to enter Canada only if they receive a negative PCR test. Moreover, after arrival to Canada, they will be subject to additional testing and quarantine measures.
Furthermore, all the air travellers (excluding those returning from the U.S.) will be subject to testing at the airport after landing in Canada. Please note, these measures are imposed on all air travellers irrespective of their immigration and vaccination status. Also, these travellers are required to quarantine themselves until a negative test result has been received, in addition to the PCR tests they need to take within 72 hours of arrival in the country.
These new rules are also imposed on the fully-vaccinated citizens/permanent residents of Canada. During the press conference held on 30th November, the Canadian ministers further clarified that they will look more into adding these new measures to travellers entering Canada from the U.S. by air and/or land.
These new measures are being implemented as a result of a new variant of the COVID-19 virus, Omicron, which was discovered last week in South Africa.
The other seven countries which were earlier added to the travel ban list by the Canadian government are South Africa, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Eswatini, Botswana, and Mozambique. This announcement was made by the government of Canada on 26th November, that is, two days after the discovery of this new variant.
The World Health Organization (WHO) suggests that this new COVID-19 variant, Omicron, may spread significantly across the world and increase the risk of reinfection. However, there is no clear information available yet, on how contagious and dangerous is this new variant.
As of now, there are five confirmed cases of the Omicron COVID-19 variant in Canada, and a few other possible cases are under testing.
