Amid the growing concerns over the Omicron variant of COVID-19, Canada has added Egypt, Malawi, and Nigeria to the travel ban list.
“We are adding three countries to the list of these countries that we talked about last Friday, these are Malawi, Egypt and Nigeria,” Canadian Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos was quoted as saying by Sputnik news agency.
Duclos added that all travellers coming from outside Canada, apart from the United States, would now be tested at Canadian airports for the virus, regardless of vaccination status.
Read also: Omicron Covid-19 variant found in Europe before discovery in South-Africa
This came after the World Health Organization on Tuesday called for countries to keep calm and take “rational” measures in response to the new COVID variant, Omicron.
Canadian citizens and permanent residents that have been in any of the affected countries over the last 14 days will need to receive a negative PCR test before being allowed to travel to Canada. Upon arriving in Canada, they will face more testing and quarantine measures.
Join BusinessDay whatsapp Channel, to stay up to date
Open In Whatsapp