(Bloomberg) -- Justin Trudeau’s government is asking Canadians to avoid non-essential travel over the next month, as the spread of the omicron Covid-19 variant accelerates across the country.

“Our government is officially advising Canadians to avoid non-essential travel outside Canada,” federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said in a news briefing. “To those who are planning to travel, I say very clearly: Now is not the time to travel.”

The advisory will be in place for four weeks, meaning Canadians planning to celebrate Christmas outside the country will need to reconsider. The government is concerned about what could happen to citizens who choose to travel right now, Duclos said.

“Once they have left Canada, there is very little we can do to help them,” he said. “The situation abroad is already dire in many places, and it’s going to get worse very quickly.” 

Canada recorded 4,336 new cases on Wednesday. The number of active cases has risen 48% since the end of November, to 99 per 100,000 people.

In Quebec, where high vaccination rates had until recently kept the situation under control, the number of new cases has been climbing, reaching 2,386 in the last 24 hours, with hospitalizations also on the rise. The province’s government on Tuesday recommended employers revert to work-from-home practices and said free rapid tests will be distributed to the population of 8.5 million people.

Quebec Premier Francois Legault said he’s not excluding more measures ahead of Christmas, La Presse reported Wednesday.  

Ontario’s premier Doug Ford will be holding a news update about the province’s vaccine booster strategy later on Wednesday. On Tuesday, the province’s Chief Medical Officer said new measures, including possible limits on the size of holiday gatherings, could be needed to slow the omicron variant’s spread.

Financial companies, including Bank of Nova Scotia and National Bank of Canada, have been pulling back on plans to return workers to their offices.

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