Canada bans entry to travelers from 10 countries, including an Arab country

Canada has banned entry to travelers from Egypt, Nigeria and Malawi, for fear of the spread of the Omicron mutant of the Corona virus, after it imposed the same procedure on seven other African countries.

Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said during a press conference that "foreign nationals who have transited or resided in these 10 countries cannot enter Canada if they have resided there within the past two weeks."

The minister explained that the decision to prevent these travelers from entering Canada will take effect from today, Wednesday.

As for Canadian citizens and foreigners permanently residing in Canada, they will still be able to return to this country even if they have resided during the past two weeks in any of the ten countries from which travel is prohibited, but provided that they undergo a laboratory examination upon arrival at the airport and a second examination a week after that and stay in quarantine.

Duclos added that all travelers coming to Canada on international flights, with the exception of those coming from the United States, will have to undergo a Covid test at the airport and stay in isolation until the result of this examination is issued.

On Friday, Canada banned entry to travelers from seven countries located in southern Africa: Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

And "Omicron", recently discovered by South African researchers, is a new mutant of the multi-mutation Corona virus believed to be highly contagious, in a development that caused panic in the world and led to the cancellation of many international flights.

The World Health Organization described this new mutant as "a concern", while scientists continue to work around the clock to analyze this mutant and assess its risks.

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