The rampant spread of the Omicron COVID-19 variant in Canada has stoked alarm across the border.
The U-S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a fresh Level 4 ``avoid travel'' advisory for Canada, citing a ``very high'' level of COVID-19 in the country.
It urges everyone who must go to Canada to be fully vaccinated.
That quickly prompted the State Department to revise its travel advisory, which had been at Level 3, ``reconsider travel,'' to upgrade its advice to Level 4: ``Do not travel to Canada due to COVID-19.''
In mid-December, the Trudeau government issued its own advisory, warning residents against all non-essential international travel due to Omicron.