Prime minister Justin Trudeau met with premiers on Tuesday evening to discuss new restrictions to curb the spread of the latest COVID-19 variant, the “omicron”.

Despite recent evidence showing Omicron is likely less lethal than current predominant variants, the government will likely announce new COVID restrictions on Wednesday. 

In the last two weeks since Omicron’s discovery, the mainstream media has hyped up the new variant in a renewed effort to maintain fear and panic around COVID-19.

Despite the highly contagious nature of Omicron, experts say the variant is not a cause for concern since most of the population is immunized and the variant is less lethal than its Delta counterpart. 

Trudeau allegedly discussed a possible ban on all non-essential foreign travellers into Canada, including from the United States, and increased testing and quarantining procedures. 

The government is likely to renew its advisory against non-essential international travel, which was lifted in October. 

The federal government has also discussed ways to accelerate the roll-out of booster shots, as increasing evidence shows the COVID-19 vaccines rapidly lose efficacy after only six months. 

As the pandemic is ending in many parts of the world and jurisdictions are learning to live with the virus and using treatments such as monoclonal antibodies and antivirals, the mainstream media is scaling up its hysteric coverage of the Omicron variants.

Canadian politicians are following the media narrative and increasing restrictions around the country.