Canada's Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos calls for unnecessary travel abroad to be cancelled to prevent the spread of the omicron variant.

"For those who were planning to travel, I say very clearly - now is not the time to travel. The rapid spread of the Omicron variant on a global scale makes us fear the worst," said Jean-Yves Duclos, quoted by CBC.

The ruler also added that he is "afraid" and "worried" about those traveling out of the country, since Omicron has the ability to change the pandemic situation quite quickly, explaining that its spread rate is "enormous."

"The situation abroad is already dire in a number of places and it is going to get worse very quickly," Duclos warned, clarifying that the Public Health Agency of Canada will step up the mandatory testing program upon arrival at the country's airports.