Canada Lifts Omicron Travel Ban From Egypt

Canada's Ministry of Health announced that the country's travel ban on 10 African nations, including Egypt, will be lifted starting December 18th at 11:59 PM ET.

The travel ban was implemented in late November due to concerns over the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus, which was first identified in South Africa. At the time, Egypt had not detected any cases of the Omicron variant. The decision was made after Switzerland included Egypt on its 10-day quarantine list. Switzerland had since removed Egypt from that list in early December.

Canada will no longer impose an additional requirement for travellers with right of entry from Egypt. The requirement asked travellers to obtain a valid negative pre-departure molecular test in a third country, and stay in a designated quarantine facility until the test results are available.

Many other COVID-19 restrictions remain, however. Unless you are a fully vaccinated traveller, or have a valid vaccination exemption, you will not be allowed entry into Canada for non-essential travel. To qualify as a fully vaccinated traveller into Canada, travellers must have received two doses of a valid COVID-19 vaccine or at least one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, have received the second dose at least 14 full days before entering Canada, and have no signs or symptoms of COVID-19.