Ottawa, Nov 29 (TIWN) Two people in the Canadian capital city of Ottawa have tested positive for the highly transmissible Omicron variant of Covid-19, according to the Ontario provincial government.

The detection of Omicron has triggered global alarm as governments around the world scramble to impose new travelrestrictions and markets sold off, fearing the variant could be resistant to vaccinations and upend a nascent economic reopening after a two-year global pandemic. 

On Friday, Canada closed its borders to foreign travelers who have recently been to seven Southern African nations in the preceding two weeks to help stop the spread of the newly identified variant of COVID-19.  "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," the statement said.