Canada Issues Travel Ban on Nigeria Amid Fears of Omicron Variant

• Canada has issued a travel ban on Nigeria and some other African countries amid fear of the spread of the Omicron variant of coronavirus

• The North American country recently identified 5 people with the new variant and at least two of them had recently visited Nigeria

• Other African countries to be affected by the ban are Malawi and Egypt

On Tuesday, Canada announced that it had banned travelers from three African countries, including Nigeria amid worries over the spread of the new Omicron coronavirus variant.

Malawi and Egypt are the two other countries affected by the ban, bringing the number of African countries targeted to 10.

While speaking during a press conference, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos stated that foreign nationals who had visited any of the banned countries in the last 2 weeks cannot enter Canada.

The government announced that the pandemic precaution measure will take effect from Wednesday.

It was further disclosed that any Canadians or permanent residents who had been in any of the 10 countries will have to quarantine on arrival and take a COVID 19 test.

In addition to that, Duclos stated that all travelers arriving from outside Canada via air will be tested for COVID 19 upon entry. They’ll also be required to isolate until the test results are ready.

Read also: COVID 19 Omicron Variant Confirmed in Nigeria

The Omicron variant which was reported to the World Health Organization less than a week ago after being discovered in South Africa is now present in 12 countries.

The WHO has warned that this strain of the virus is highly transmissible and tests are being carried out to find out if vaccines have high efficiency against the strain.

Follow Naija.fm on our social media handles Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to keep up with trending news, breaking news, entertainment news, and hot gist.