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Government to re-introduce quarantine for travellers entering Canada

New testing and quarantine measures will be imposed regardless of vaccination status.

UPDATED 4:20 p.m. In an effort to slow the spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, the federal government has announced that all travellers entering Canada (from anywhere besides the U.S.) will have to be tested for COVID-19 at the airport upon re-entry, and quarantine until their results come in. Travellers who’ve been through the following 10 African countries will be required to quarantine for 14 days: South Africa, Eswatini, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia and, newly added to the list today, Nigeria, Egypt and Malawi.

In an ongoing press conference, federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos also revealed that the government is considering and preparing for a possible return to mandatory 14-day quarantine for all travellers entering or re-entering Canada by land or by air, including from the U.S.

These measures will be in effect for everyone regardless of vaccination status. The unvaccinated are still required to quarantine for 14 days and have tests performed on days 1 and 8. As of today, domestic air and rail travel is limited to the double-vaccinated.

The first detected case of the Omicron variant in Quebec, as announced yesterday, was a woman who had just returned from Nigeria. There are also cases in Ontario and, as announced in the past hour, Alberta.

For updates on Canadian travel restrictions during the pandemic, please visit the government of Canada website.


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