Hon. Marie-Françoise Mégie: My question is for the Government Representative in the Senate.

Experts agree that all viruses mutate over time. Most mutations have little to no impact on the properties of the virus.

Concerning the Omicron variant, the WHO noted in its November 30 statement that global travel bans do not prevent the international spread of the virus and they place a heavy burden on lives and livelihoods.

Closing the borders can have an adverse effect on global health efforts during a pandemic, by dissuading countries from reporting and sharing epidemiological and sequencing data.

To date, the Omicron variant is the fifth variant “of concern” on the WHO list. It has been detected in several Canadian provinces.

Senator Gold, can you tell us what scientific evidence and which recommendations from the Public Health Agency of Canada led the government to impose entry restrictions on citizens from 10 African countries?