Omicron

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland pleaded with provinces to use the COVID-19 rapid tests they've already been sent as she promised Ottawa will spend another $1.7 billion to buy millions more of them in the next few months.

In this COVID-19 remake of Groundhog Day, the lessons will keep getting taught until our leaders finally find a way to learn them, writes columnist Max Fawcett.

Since the announced detection of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, a new poll suggests Canadians bracing for the worst.

An Ontario infectious disease specialist says there is evidence testing all travellers before and after they arrive in Canada will identify most cases of COVID-19 coming into the country.

Confusion has been growing at some Canadian airports that say they want more direction from the federal government since it changed COVID-19 testing rules for travellers.

Not all Canadian airports will have the capacity to immediately begin testing arriving air travellers from countries other than the United States for COVID-19, the federal health minister said on Wednesday, December 1, 2021 .

Megan Tanya Hodgkinson was visiting relatives in South Africa last week when Canada imposed travel restrictions on several African countries after scientists detected a new variant of the novel coronavirus.

By early next week, Canadians and all other foreign visitors who travel to the United States by air will need to get a COVID-19 test no later than the day before their departure.

Alberta and British Columbia are reporting their first cases of the Omicron COVID-19 variant that has now been detected in four Canadian provinces.

All air travellers entering Canada, except for those coming from the United States, will now need to be tested for COVID-19 upon arrival at the airport and isolate until they get their results, even if they are fully vaccinated against the virus.

Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos and his counterparts from other G7 countries agreed on Monday, November 29, 2021, to closely monitor and share information about the highly mutated Omicron variant of COVID-19.

Unvaccinated travellers over the age of 12 won't be able to board a plane or train in Canada beginning today, November 30, 2021, and a negative COVID-19 test will no longer serve as a substitute for most people.

Canada logged three more cases of the Omicron COVID-19 variant on Monday, November 29, 2021, and was investigating other potential infections as hundreds of people who recently travelled back from countries deemed high-risk for the new strain were encouraged to get tested.

As Canada confirms its first cases of the Omicron COVID-19 variant, scientists say banning travellers from southern African countries in an effort to curb its importation is wishful thinking that could do more harm than good.

Both cases of the variant were found in the Ottawa area in people who had recently been in Nigeria, Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott said in a joint statement with the province's top public health official, Dr. Kieran Moore.