Top doctor to provide update on new COVID-19 variant detected in Ontario

Ontario’s chief medical officer of health is set to hold a news conference Monday after Canada’s first two cases of a new COVID-19 variant were found in the province.

Dr. Kieran Moore is scheduled to speak to the media at 9:30 a.m. about the cases of the Omicron variant that were detected in patients in Ottawa.

The patients had both recently traveled from Nigeria. The variant was first detected in South Africa and has been linked to a spike in cases there.

On Friday, the federal government implemented a ban on air travel to and from seven African countries, but Nigeria was not among them.

Premier Doug Ford has called on Ottawa to implement point-of-arrival COVID-19 testing for everyone entering Canada regardless of where they came from, instead of just requiring them to get tested before leaving for Canada.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is urging countries around the world not to impose flight bans on Southern African Nations until for is known about the Omicron variant.

WHO has cautioned that the variant could be more contagious to those who previously had COVID-19.