Canada announces new Covid-19 Omicron travel restrictions

According to the official news release from the Canadian Government on 30th November 2021, additional measures are being put into place in order to help contain the spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19.
The Honorable Marco Mendocino, Minister of Public Safety, and the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Transport, announced border measures to reduce the risk of entry and transmission of Omicron. Based on public health advice and ongoing surveillance of how Omicron is spreading, foreign nationals who have been in the following countries during the last 14 days will not be permitted entry into Canada
- Botswana
- Egypt
- Eswatini
- Lesotho
- Malawi
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- Nigeria
- South Africa
- Zimbabwe
Canadian citizens travelling from these countries will continue to receive pre-entry and arrival testing, as well as quarantine measures. Safety measures will continue to be monitored and adjusted accordingly, depending on the current available data.
Arrival testing is in place for those who are fully vaccinated and travelling by air from countries other than the United States. Quarantine will be required until a test result is received.
Those who have a right of entry to Canada, but are unvaccinated, will be subject to an arrival test which will be repeated 8 days later. If travelling by air, quarantine in a specified location is required until the result of the arrival test is received.
As of December 18th 2021, and due to increased knowledge and surveillance of the Omicron variant, the restrictions have been lifted for those travelling from the countries specified in the above restricted list.
Testing will increase, and the requirement for a pre-arrival negative PCR test will be reinstated for those leaving the country for less than 72 hours. It is vital that pre-arrival tests are taken in a country other than Canada. Pre-arrival testing will once again be in place for all trips of any duration.
The Canadian government has advised all Canadians to avoid non essential travel outside of the country. It is vital that those who must travel adhere to public health guidelines at all times, which include:
- Wearing a well fitting and we’ll constructed mask
- Avoiding high risk areas
- Maintaining a list of contacts for 14 days following entry to Canada
- Submitting information to ArriveCAN
- Quarantining for 14 days if unvaccinated.
These measures are in addition to the required testing.
You can read the full press release at..
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