Canada adds Egypt, Nigeria, Malawi to countries facing travel restrictions

By Barry Ellsworth

TRENTON, Canada (AA) - Canada imposed travel restrictions Tuesday on three more countries, and anyone who enters the country by air, except for the US, must be tested for COVID-19 even if they have been fully vaccinated due to fears over the new omicron variant.

“All air travelers coming from outside Canada, apart from the United States, will now need to be tested at the airport in which they are landing in Canada whether they are vaccinated or unvaccinated. They will then need to isolate themselves until they get the result of their test,” said Canadian Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos, who gave a live update Tuesday on measures Canada is taking as the world faces the latest virus threat.

Seven southern African countries had travel restrictions placed on them on Friday -- South Africa, Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho and Eswatini -- and Tuesday, Nigeria, Egypt and Malawi were added to the list. The Canadian restriction affects all those foreign nationals who have gone to those countries within the past two weeks.

“Obviously we’re watching very, very closely the situation with omicron,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said when waylaid by reporters while on the way to a Cabinet meeting where the new restrictions were discussed before being implemented.

“There may be more we need to do, and we’ll be looking at it very carefully,” he added.

The restrictions come as Canada has pinpointed six cases of omicron so far, and health officials fear the number will increase shortly. The cases are in Ontario, Quebec and Alberta.

"There will be, most likely, community transmission of the new variant at some point in Canada," Duclos said.

He said the government asked the National Advisory Committee on Immunization to provide "quick guidance" on booster shots to help protect Canadians from the new variant.