Hours after the government of the United Kingdom scrapped its red list, thereby lifting the travel ban on 11 African countries, the government of Canada has announced plans to reassess the travel restrictions it placed on 10 African countries.
A report by the Globe and Mail confirmed that the Canadian government is reviewing the travel ban because of the global backlash the policy attracted.
Canada on November 26 slammed travel restrictions on seven countries over the emergence of the Omicron variant of Covid-19. The country expanded the list to 10 countries on November 30. The 10 countries are South Africa, Mozambique, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Eswatini, Namibia, Nigeria, Malawi and Egyp
The Canadian Transport Minister, Omar Alghabra, who addressed a press conference on Wednesday confirmed that government was reassessing the rules.
The minister, however remained silent on when the country will make an announcement or whether it will lift the ban placed on the 10 African countries.
“It was not put out of malice or punitive measures; this was based on data. Yes, we are currently reassessing that, and I can assure you we will act as quickly as possible,” Alghabra said.
Meanwhile, the travel ban is still in place as travellers from these 10 countries will still be required to obtain proof of a valid negative COVID test from a third country.
