Doug Ford calls new COVID-19 variant concerning as Canada implements travel ban
Canada is implementing travel restrictions on all flights from southern Africa for the next two months after a discovery of a new variant of concern.
The countries include South Africa, Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho and Eswatini.
The announcement comes hours after Ontario Premier Doug Ford publicly called on Ottawa to ban all flights and passengers from countries that are linked to the newly discovered variant of concern found in Africa.
On Friday, Ford released a statement in response to the B.1.1.529 variant detected in South Africa, Botswana and Hong Kong.
"I was just briefed by Dr. Kieran Moore, Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, about the new variant that’s been found in several countries in Africa that early reports suggest could be vaccine resistant. I have contacted the federal government to express my extreme concern about the risks it poses and the need for immediate action today," Ford said.
Ford asked the federal government to follow some other governments by “immediately banning all flights and passengers from countries of concern.”
“Anyone arriving before the ban is implemented should be tested and quarantined, including the many passengers arriving today. Out of an abundance of caution, we must also reintroduce point-of-arrival testing for all passengers arriving to Canada, regardless of where they’re coming from,” he said.
Ford also said that he has asked Public Health Ontario to implement expanded surveillance and update scenario planning in response to the new variant.
"We cannot repeat the same mistakes that allowed the Alpha and Delta variants to enter our country. Our best defense right now is stopping this variant at the border," Ford said.
Provincial officials said there have been roughly 9,000 travellers that have arrived in Canada from South Africa since June 2021, according to data from the Public Health Agency of Canada.
Ford's office declined to provide comment or an updated statement after the federal government announced the new travel restrictions.
Infectious diseases specialist at Toronto General Hospital Dr. Isaac Bogoch said it’s too early to say how contagious the new variant is.
“You're going to hear a lot of scary things over the next day or two. But the truth is we just don't know enough about it. But we are going to learn a ton about this over the days and probably over the weeks to come,” he told CP24 on Friday.
Bogoch added that a travel ban on certain countries likely won’t stop the variant from spreading into a country but border restrictions could help slow down transmission.
“If you truly wanted to prevent something like this from coming into your country you need border restriction. I'm not saying by any means we should do this, I'm just telling you this is how you prevent something from coming into your country...border restrictions and quarantine, that's how you really slow down and potentially stop something from coming into your country,” he said.
On Thursday, South Africa’s health minister said the variant is a concern because of its high number of mutations and rapid spread among young people.
Health officials in the United Kingdom have raised concerns about the effectiveness of vaccines that are currently available against the new variant.
A number of European nations have already announced that they are planning to stop air travel from southern Africa.
The World Health Organization's technical working group is meeting on Friday to discuss the new variant and possibly give it a name.
-With files from The Associated Press.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Work stoppage possible as WestJet issues lockout notice to maintenance engineers' union
A lockout notice issued by WestJet to a union representing aircraft maintenance engineers could result in a work stoppage next week.
'I just can't believe that it took so long': Body found in wreckage 3 months after deadly fire
A man accused of arson in a January Old Strathcona apartment fire is expected to be charged with manslaughter after a body was discovered in the burned building late last month.
No proof man lied to brother about number of kittens born in litter, B.C. tribunal rules
A man was denied a $5,000 payout from his brother after a B.C. tribunal dismissed his claim disputing how many kittens were born in a litter.
Quebec police hand out hundreds of tickets to Hells Angels and other bikers before 'first run' meeting
Quebec provincial police handed out hundreds of fines to Hells Angels members and other supporting motorcycle clubs who met for their 'first run' in a small town near Sherbrooke, Que.
Auston Matthews skates ahead of Game 7, status unclear with season on the line
Auston Matthews was back on the ice with his teammates Saturday.
Bodies recovered in Mexico likely 2 Australians, 1 American who went missing: officials
Three bodies recovered in an area of Baja California are likely to be those of the two Australians and an American who went missing last weekend during a camping and surfing trip, the state prosecutor’s office said Saturday.
Russia puts Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on its wanted list
Russia has put Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on its wanted list, Russian state media reported Saturday, citing the interior ministry’s database.
Snakes almost on a plane: U.S. TSA discovers a bag with small snakes in passenger's pants
According to an X post by the Transportation Security Administration, officers at the Miami International Airport found the small bag of snakes hidden in a passenger's trousers on April 26 at a checkpoint.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.