african countries will be banned from arriving in britain later today. the move comes amid worrying warnings about a new covid variant emerging in the region. experts have described the variant b.1.1.529 as the worst they have seen so far, and with no cases confirmed in the uk the government hope that they ll be able to prevent the spread in the lead up to christmas. so far only 59 confirmed cases have been identified in south africa, hong kong and botswana. consumer watchdog which have responded to the travel ban with a stark reminder that travel is not back to normal and that the pandemic continues to disrupt passengers travel plans, often with very little notice. whilst more study needs to be done there are fears that the vaccines could be less effective against this new strain. our medical editor fergus walsh has the latest. from what we do know there s a significant number of mutations, perhaps double the number of mutations that we have seen in the delta variant. and
The Government of Canada plans to stop supplying provinces and territories with free COVID-19 rapid tests, which has an infection control epidemiologist worried about two-tiered health care, increased spread and increased health-care costs.
Nearly a year after the legislature unanimously passed an Opposition motion to update the New Brunswick Clean Air Act and improve air quality in public buildings to reduce the spread of airborne illnesses, such as COVID-19, the government says it won't update the act after all.
As Canadians bid farewell to the aches and chills of the respiratory virus season a new question looms: what other microbial menaces will appear as days grow warmer?