2 Cases of Omicron Coronavirus Variant Confirmed in Ottawa

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On 28 November, Canadians received confirmation of the first two cases of the omicron COVID-19 variant. A statement released by the Ontario Government said, “Today, the province of Ontario has confirmed two cases of the omicron variant of COVID-19 in Ottawa, both of which were reported in individuals with recent travel from Nigeria. Ottawa Public Health is conducting case and contact management and the patients are in isolation.” This variant, labelled by the World Health Organization as a ‘variant of concern’, was first detected in South Africa. Canadian officials, like many worldwide, quickly enforced new travel restrictions on those who had visited countries in southern Africa over the past two weeks. Currently, officials have not released any information on whether this variant is more transmissible or more dangerous. [CBC News] [By Grace Pu]

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New B.1.1.529 Coronavirus Variant Has Been Discovered

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Now called the Omicron variant, B.1.1.529 was discovered on 24 November, 2021 in South Africa. Evidence so far has shown that Omicron has over 50 mutations from the original Coronavirus-a far greater amount of mutations than seen in previous variants. Scientists say that the Omicron variant did not directly evolve from the Delta variant; rather it consists of characteristics from the Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta variants. Of those mutations, South African scientists have found that over 30 of them involve the spike protein. Spike proteins are the target of the antibodies which the immune system produces to help fight COVID-19 but with its new mutations,  scientists are unsure how effective the current vaccine will be against Omicron.  [CTV] [Michael Yang]

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New Travel Restrictions Have Travellers Stuck Waiting for Test Results

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Just as airline travel is rebounding from a more than 90% drop, already weary travellers and the tourism industry now have to face even tighter restrictions to combat the spread of the new omicron variant. The new rules require travellers coming from all countries(except the United States) to get a COVID-19 test, and they must quarantine until the test comes back negative. These new restrictions are just one more hoop that customers have to go through, with many airlines critical of this new rule, due to the impact on travel demand. “Every time there’s an additional step, like a test at the airport, [people] will think twice before they travel because of the hassle and because of the cost,” Statia Elliot said, director of the School of Hospitality Food and Tourism Management at the University of Guelph, describing it as “one more hit to an industry that has been … significantly hit by the pandemic”. [CBC][Gavin Xue]

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At Least 232 Tarantulas, 67 Cockroaches, 9 Spider Eggs, and a Scorpion with 7 of its Young Were Confiscated

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Hundreds of wild spiders and insects were confiscated by Colombian authorities at the capital’s El Dorado airport as they foiled an alleged attempt to smuggle bugs to Europe. Two German Citizens were detained and will be prosecuted for smuggling the bugs into Europe. They said that they were taking the animals to Germany for academic purposes, but lacked the permits to collect and transport them. Bogota’s environment secretary, Carolina Urrutia, said “Even if people intended to use wild animals for scientific research, they still need permission from the relevant authorities to remove them from the country.” This is the second incident in less than three months where authorities confiscated wild animals illegally exported from Colombia. [CNN][Yolanda Zhou]