Passengers check in at the Lufthansa counter at Johannesburg's O R Tambo Airport. AP
Passengers check in at the Lufthansa counter at Johannesburg's O R Tambo Airport. AP
Passengers check in at the Lufthansa counter at Johannesburg's O R Tambo Airport. AP
Passengers check in at the Lufthansa counter at Johannesburg's O R Tambo Airport. AP

First Omicron cases in North America detected in Canada


Willy Lowry
  • English
  • Arabic

Live updates: follow the latest news on Covid-19 variant Omicron

The Omicron variant of the coronavirus has reached North America, with the Canadian province of Ontario confirming two cases of the strain after two people returning from a trip to Nigeria tested positive on Sunday.

On Monday afternoon, the province of Quebec confirmed its first case of the variant bringing the total to three cases.

“I know that this new variant may seem concerning, but I want to remind Canadians that vaccination, in combination with public health and individual protective measures, is working to reduce the spread of Covid-19 and its variants in our communities," said Jean-Yves Duclos, Canada’s new minister of health.

The Canadian government has enacted a series of restrictions in a bid to stem the spread of the Omicron variant.

Doctors and scientists around the globe are scrambling to determine how contagious the variant is and whether it is more likely to lead to serious illness and death than previous iterations of the virus.

Canada has once again tightened border restrictions, banning travellers from southern Africa until January 31, 2022.

Foreign visitors who have travelled to certain countries in southern Africa in the past 14 days will not be allowed to enter the country, while Canadian citizens and permanent residents will be subjected to enhanced testing and quarantine measures.

“Our government continues to take unprecedented and decisive action to protect the health and safety of Canadians,” Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra said.

“Today's measures, including new requirements for third-country pre-departure testing for travellers coming to Canada from certain southern African countries, are being put in place to prevent new variants of the Covid-19 virus from being introduced and spread in Canada.”

On Friday, the World Health Organisation declared the B.1.1.529 variant first detected in South Africa — better known as Omicron — to be a “variant of concern”.

The WHO said Omicron poses a “very high” global risk and urged its 194 member countries to ramp up vaccination efforts particularly among “high-priority groups”, such as the elderly and those who are immunocompromised.

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How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
  • The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
  • The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
  • The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
  • The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
  • The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
Groom and Two Brides

Director: Elie Semaan

Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla

Rating: 3/5

Freezer tips

  • Always make sure food is completely cool before freezing.
  • If you’re cooking in large batches, divide into either family-sized or individual portions to freeze.
  • Ensure the food is well wrapped in foil or cling film. Even better, store in fully sealable, labelled containers or zip-lock freezer bags.
  • The easiest and safest way to defrost items such as the stews and sauces mentioned is to do so in the fridge for several hours or overnight.
New UK refugee system

 

  • A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
  • Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
  • A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
  • To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
  • Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
  • Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015

- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France

Ferrari 12Cilindri specs

Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12

Power: 819hp

Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm

Price: From Dh1,700,000

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SPEC SHEET

Display: 10.9" Liquid Retina IPS, 2360 x 1640, 264ppi, wide colour, True Tone, Apple Pencil support

Chip: Apple M1, 8-core CPU, 8-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine

Memory: 64/256GB storage; 8GB RAM

Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, Smart HDR

Video: 4K @ 25/25/30/60fps, full HD @ 25/30/60fps, slo-mo @ 120/240fps

Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR, Centre Stage; full HD @ 25/30/60fps

Audio: Stereo speakers

Biometrics: Touch ID

I/O: USB-C, smart connector (for folio/keyboard)

Battery: Up to 10 hours on Wi-Fi; up to 9 hours on cellular

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Spider-Man: No Way Home

Director: Jon Watts

Stars: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jacob Batalon 

Rating:*****

SPECS

Nissan 370z Nismo

Engine: 3.7-litre V6

Transmission: seven-speed automatic

Power: 363hp

Torque: 560Nm

Price: Dh184,500

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2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups

Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.

Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.

Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.

Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.

Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.

Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.

Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.

Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.

Updated: November 30, 2021, 6:09 AM