Canada closing borders to travelers from seven southern African nations over COVID-19 fears

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada is closing its borders to foreign travelers who have recently been to seven southern African nations to help stop the spread of a newly identified variant of COVID-19, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos told reporters on Friday.

The European Union, the United States and Britain are among those tightening border controls as researchers probe whether the mutation is vaccine resistant.

Duclos told reporters that Canada was acting quickly to protect the health of its citizens. The seven nations are: South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

Foreign citizens will be banned from Canada if they have been to the seven nations in the last 14 days.

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