Canada tightens border control amid surging COVID cases, new variant

Canada reported 3,063 new COVID-19 cases on Friday and tightened its border control measures due to a new coronavirus variant in other countries, according to CTV.

Canada announced Friday afternoon that it will ban the entry of all foreigners from southern Africa due to increasing concerns over a new COVID-19 variant named Omicron.

As a precautionary measure, until Jan. 31, 2022, Canada is implementing enhanced border measures for all travellers who have been in the Southern Africa region – including South Africa, Eswatini, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Namibia — within the last 14 days before arriving in Canada.

Canadian citizens, permanent residents and people with status under the Indian Act, regardless of their vaccination status or having had a previous history of testing positive for COVID-19, who have been in these countries in the previous 14 days will be subject to enhanced testing, screening, and quarantine measures.

The Canadian government’s surveillance data continue to show that daily case counts have been gradually rising with high infection rates persisting in many areas of the country.

Over the latest seven-day period of Nov. 19-25, Canada reported an average of 2,608 new cases, up by 9 percent from the previous week, the Public Health Agency of Canada said Friday.

As of Thursday, Canada has administered over 60 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines. The latest data indicate that close to 79 percent of the total population has received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine and over 75 percent have now been fully vaccinated.