Canada advising against non-essential travel as Omicron spreads worldwide

Canada is advising against non-essential travel in light of the Omicron variant, which is spreading across the world and driving up infections once again.

The federal government is once again warning Canadians against non-essential travel abroad as the Omicron variant continues to quickly spread worldwide.

Officials announced Wednesday the government is warning once again against non-essential travel by Canadians ahead of the holidays.

“We are asking Canadians to be cautious heading into the holiday season,” said Dominic LeBlanc, minister of intergovernmental affairs, infrastructure and communities.

“If you do not have to travel internationally, please do not.”

READ MORE: Quebec, Ontario, P.E.I., introduce new measures to slow Omicron spread

Cases of the highly contagious Omicron variant are raging around the world, particularly in the United Kingdom and Denmark, which both have highly vaccinated populations akin to Canada’s.

However, the variant contains dozens of mutations including some which preliminary studies have suggested can make COVID-19 vaccines less effective in preventing infections.

So far, available evidence does not suggest a significant lowering of the vaccines’ abilities to prevent people who are infected from experiencing severe symptoms or needing to go to hospital.