Ontario confirms first two cases of omicron COVID variant

The omicron variant has officially found its way to Ontario despite new travel restrictions announced on Friday trying to stop its spread.

Health officials confirmed two cases on Sunday that were detected in individuals in Ottawa who had recently travelled to Canada from Nigeria.

Both individuals are currently in isolation and Ottawa Public Health is conducting case and contact management.

The omicron variant was first reported to WHO from South Africa on Nov. 24 but the first known confirmed B.1.1.529 infection was from a specimen collected on Nov. 9.

At this point it is unclear if the vaccines are effective against the variant.

News of the variant has caused countries around the world to implement new travel restrictions as well as panic in global stock markets.