Canada prohibited visitors from Egypt, Nigeria, and Malawi on Tuesday because to concerns about the spread of the novel Omicron coronavirus type, increasing the total number of African nations targeted by Ottawa to ten.

“Foreign people who have transited or remained in these ten countries in the previous two weeks cannot enter Canada,” Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said during a press conference.

He also stated that, with the exception of the United States, all air travelers arriving from outside Canada will henceforth be tested for Covid-19 at their port of entry, “whether vaccinated or unvaccinated,” and that those visitors will be isolated until their test results are ready.

The Omicron version was first reported to the World Health Organization less than a week ago after being discovered in southern Africa earlier in November, fanning global worries of a coronavirus epidemic that has killed over five million people and devastated economies worldwide.

“The epidemic is far from ending,” said Transport Minister Omar Alghabra. “Travel measures are subject to change at any time.”

On Friday, Canada barred all passengers from seven southern African nations from entering the country: Botswana, Swaziland, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe.

On Sunday, Canada reported that it had discovered its first instances of the novel Omicron strain in two patients who had just gone to Nigeria.

The WHO cautioned on Tuesday that travel bans will not prevent the spread of the new type, despite the fact that more than 50 nations have implemented similar precautions.

In Canada, there have been 1,791,902 coronavirus cases and 29,681 fatalities.