Ottawa reports two additional Omicron cases bringing provincial total to four

Ontario’s count of Omicron variant cases is officially at four, while another two individuals await whole-genome sequencing results.

The two new cases are in Ottawa, where Canada’s first two Omicron cases were detected over the weekend. The city has now identified a total of four Omicron cases.

Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Kieran Moore, told reporters on Monday that there were four suspected Omicron cases in the province. Two of the suspected cases are the now confirmed cases in Ottawa, and two are in the Hamilton region. The two remaining cases are awaiting whole-genome sequencing results.

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In addition to the suspected cases, the Public Health Agency of Canada alerted Ontario to 375 recent travellers to southern African regions. There is not yet any information on how many Canadian travellers have returned from the growing list of countries reporting Omicron cases.

Last week, the federal government announced new travel restrictions in light of the new variant. So far, travel restrictions have only been applied to seven southern African countries. Other countries reporting Omicron cases include the UK, Germany, Israel, Netherlands, Denmark and Australia.

Ontario is expected to announce new COVID-19 strategies sometime this week. These strategies include expanding third dose eligibility, according to Dr. Moore.