'There may be more we need to do,' Trudeau says amid omicron concerns

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday that Canada is considering new measures to slow the spread of the omicron coronavirus variant, a strain that may be more infectious than past iterations of the virus.

Speaking briefly to reporters before meeting with his cabinet on Parliament Hill, Trudeau said the government is watching omicron "very, very closely."

"We know that even though Canada has very strong border measures now — we need vaccinations to come to Canada, we need pre-departure tests, we need testing on arrival — there may be more we need to do and we'll be looking at it very carefully," Trudeau said.

It wasn't immediately clear if Trudeau was suggesting that COVID-19 arrival tests would become the new norm for returning travellers. Under the current travel regime, inbound travellers need to show proof of a negative molecular COVID-19 test taken before arrival in Canada but only a small number of travellers are randomly selected for a take-home test.

Some provincial premiers, like Ontario's Doug Ford, have been urging Ottawa to introduce point-of-arrival testing for all passengers arriving to Canada, regardless of where they're coming from.

Starting today, Canada has dropped the pre-departure molecular testing requirement for Canadian citizens and permanent residents who take short trips across the Canada-U.S. border. If an eligible traveller is gone from Canada for less than 72 hours, a test is not required to re-enter Canada from the U.S. It is unclear if that more permissive approach will continue now that omicron is in circulation.

Despite pressure from some business and tourism groups, Canada has so far kept the pre-departure molecular testing requirement in place for all other travellers.

Asked if more restrictions were coming today, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos told reporters he can't say more until he's had a chance to meet with his cabinet colleagues.

"We are going to talk to you about everything afterwards," Duclos said.

The omicron variant is notable because it has a large number of mutations, which may affect its transmissibility and the effect of COVID-19 vaccines.

In an interview with the U.K.-based Financial Times, Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel predicted existing vaccines will be much less effective at tackling omicron.

"There is no world, I think, where [the effectiveness] is the same level ... we had with [the] delta [variant]," Bancel said.

"I think it's going to be a material drop. I just don't know how much because we need to wait for the data. But all the scientists I've talked to ... are like, 'This is not going to be good.'"