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New travel guide: Feds advise against non-essential travel

The federal government is again advising against non-essential overseas travel as COVID-19 cases increase in Canada and the threat of the Omicron variant increases worryingly.

Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos made the announcement Wednesday during a joint press conference with other ministers and public health officials.

“For those of you who are planning to travel, I will say very clearly, now is not the time to travel. The rapid spread of the Omicron variant on a global scale makes us fear the worst for Canadians who might be thinking of traveling,” he said.

Duclos said the travel measure will be in place for four weeks, at which point the government will reassess the epidemiological situation.

“We know this sounds drastic to a lot of people, but we have to avoid overburdening our hospital system and our medical staff,” he said.

Canada’s Director of Public Health Dr Theresa Tam said on Monday that there is community transmission of the Omicron variant in Canada and that cases are likely to “escalate rapidly”.

The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) reported last Friday that if Omicron spread continues at its current rate, Canadians will likely see 12,000 cases a day by mid-January.

“The epidemiological situation is changing rapidly; Duclos said.

TEST

The government has said it will continue to increase testing capacity at the border and will have more to say about that “soon”.

Currently, fully vaccinated Canadians and permanent residents returning home after a brief 72-hour trip or less to the United States and abroad are not required to provide proof of a negative molecular test, such as as PCR test.

For longer trips, anyone arriving in Canada from international locations must have a negative PCR test within 72 hours of scheduled departure in order to board and to avoid quarantine. day when they arrive.

Duclos said that after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s conversation with prime ministers last night, more rapid tests are also being rolled out to provinces and territories.

“Delivery for December has begun… an additional 35 million tests are being shipped to the provinces and territories, the majority of which have already been received,” said the health minister.

The government also committed $1.7 billion to Health Canada and PHAC to help ensure rapid tests and the supplies needed to perform these tests, as detailed in the bulletin. Tuesday’s economic and fiscal updates.

BOOSTER SHOES

Duclos said 16 million booster shots of the COVID-19 vaccine are already available in Canada, with “many more” coming in the coming weeks.

“Our chances are small, but we have the ability to change course generally and personally, we all have a role to play,” he said.

Provinces and territories are adopting their own approaches to administering additional injections. Many are moving up the timelines as Omicron continues to spread rapidly.

In a year-end interview with CTV News’ Evan Solomon, which airs in full on CTV’s Question Period at 11am this Sunday, Trudeau said the government has procured enough booster supplies to vaccinate all including Canadians, but did not give details on when the dose would arrive in Canada.

“There are commitments to have the boosters in Canada as soon as we need them. We have enough boosters for everyone,” he said, stipulating that if by tomorrow the entire population qualifies for one booster, “we won’t be able to convert them to 26 million.” weapons”.

With a file from CTV News’ Mackenzie Grey.

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