Canada now has five cases of the Omicron . variant

FILE PHOTO: Medical staff unload a patient from a Royal Canadian Air Force CC-130J Hercules transport plane departing from Saskatoon, after the province of Saskatchewan said it would send a patient with coronavirus disease (COVID-19) from overcrowded ICU wards to Ontario Hospital, in Kingston, Ontario, Canada October 28, 2021. REUTERS / Lars Hagberg

November 30, 2021

MONTREAL (Reuters) – Two more cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant have been detected in Ottawa, bringing Canada’s total to five, Ottawa Public Health said late on Monday.

Earlier in the day, Quebec discovered its first case of the COVID-19 variant, health officials said.

Quebec Health Minister Christian Dube also told reporters that 115 travelers from countries affected by the new variant, mainly South Africa, have been called and asked to be isolated and tested for COVID- 19.

Quebec’s first case is a recent traveler to Nigeria, public health director Horacio Arruda said, similar to two cases https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/two -case-omicron-variant-detected-canada-govt-said-2021-11-28 reported Sunday by the province of Ontario.

The emergence of the new variant comes before the Christmas holiday as Quebec faces a recent increase in cases, mostly in unvaccinated people, Dube said. In the past 24 hours, Quebec reported 756 new cases.

Dube urges travelers to rethink holiday trips and warns against holding large celebrations. The province limits private home gatherings to 10 people.

“The next few weeks will be crucial,” Dube said.

(Reporting by Allison Lampert in Montreal and Akriti Sharma in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by David Ljunggren in Ottawa and Akanksha Khushi in Bengaluru; Editing by Mark Porter, Angus MacSwan and Karishma Singh)