The Canadian government has lifted the travel ban it imposed on Nigeria and nine other African countries. Minister of Health in Canada, Jean-Yves Duclos, announced the decision at a media briefing on Friday. The development comes almost three weeks after the Canadian government banned Nigeria and nine African countries over concerns relating to the Omicron COVID variant.
Aside from Nigeria, other countries affected by the Canada travel ban are Botswana, Egypt, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
Speaking on the reversal of the ban on Friday, the Canadian Health minister said the new development would take effect from today.
“With the evolving situation and overwhelming evidence of community transmission of Omicron in most countries around the world, we have taken the decision to lift the specific measures for travellers returning from the 10 countries initially listed. “This will be in effect as of December 18, 11:59pm,” he said.