Omicron variant of COVID-19 has reached the North American continent with the first two cases being reported in Canada’s Ontario, according to health officials. The two individuals, who tested positive for the variant, had a recent travel history from Nigeria.

While explaining their plan to limit the number of cases linked to the Omicron COVID variant, the officials said that contact tracing has been ordered in order to determine if any other individuals had contracted the virus.

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Christine Elliott and Kieran Moore — the Canadian health officials– said in a joint statement on Sunday, “We continue to urge the federal government to take the necessary steps to mandate point-of-arrival testing for all travellers irrespective of where they are coming from to further protect against the spread of this new variant”, according to reports from NBC News.

Rapid COVID-19 tests were being conducted for passengers who had travel history to multiple south African countries, including Eswatini, South Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho and Botswana, according to Sunday’s statement.

Cases of the omicron variant of the coronavirus popped up in countries on opposite sides of the world Sunday and many governments rushed to close their borders even as scientists cautioned that it’s not clear if the new variant is more alarming than other versions of the virus.

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Israel decided to bar entry to foreigners, and Morocco said it would suspend all incoming flights for two weeks starting Monday — among the most drastic of a growing raft of travel curbs being imposed by nations around the world as they scrambled to slow the variant’s spread, according to reports from Associated Press.

Scientists in several places — from Hong Kong to Europe — have confirmed its presence. The Netherlands reported 13 omicron cases on Sunday, and both Canada and Australia each found two.  

(With AP inputs)