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COVID-19
The Associated Press

Canada reports its first cases of new coronavirus variant

People walk through the snow
People walk through the snow at Blue Mountain Ski Resort in Ontario on the first day of a provincial lockdown to slow the spread of COVID-19 on Saturday.
Cole Burston | Canadian Press via AP

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Officials in Canada's most populous province have confirmed the first known Canadian cases of a more contagious variant of the coronavirus that was first identified in the United Kingdom.

The province’s associate chief medical officer said Saturday that the cases are a couple from Durham Region, just east of Toronto, with no known travel history, exposure or high-risk contacts.

"This further reinforces the need for Ontarians to stay home as much as possible and continue to follow all public health advice, including the provincewide shutdown measures beginning today," Dr. Barbara Yaffe said, according to CBC News.

The new variant is believed to spread more easily and faster than the original version of the disease but is not believed to be more deadly.

The provincial government said in a news release that is no evidence to suggest that the vaccines approved by Health Canada and in other countries around the world will be any less effective against the new variant. The variant was first identified in the United Kingdom but has since been detected in several other countries, including Denmark, France, Belgium, Australia and the Netherlands.

Meanwhile, Japan’s government will temporarily ban entry of all nonresident foreign nationals as a precaution against the new coronavirus variant.

The entry ban will start Monday and last through Jan. 31 for the time being, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement late Saturday.

Japan banned entry of nonresident foreigners from Britain and South Africa last week, but is further stepping up border control after confirming the new variant in seven people over the last two days — five returnees from Britain who tested at airports and two others in Tokyo.

Japan is also suspending exemptions of a 14-day quarantine for Japanese nationals and resident foreigners on a short-track program that began in November. The entrants now must carry proof of a negative test 72 hours prior to departure for Japan and self-isolate for two weeks after arrival, the ministry said.