Not all Canadian airports will have the ability to immediately begin screening air travelers from countries other than the United States for COVID-19, the federal health minister said Wednesday.
Ottawa announced Tuesday that all air travelers entering Canada, except those from the US, will need to undergo a COVID-19 test upon arrival at the airport and isolate them until the results are obtained, even if they are fully vaccinated. against the virus. .
The strictest measures come as public health officials around the world warn of the potentially dangerous new Omicron variant of COVID-19.
“The directive to implement that is now active. So the direction was given as of yesterday. And, of course, it will take time to implement it; it will take time,” Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said Wednesday.
“The speed of implementation will also vary with local airport conditions. There are airports in Canada that can start doing it very quickly because there is overcapacity. Other airports will take a little longer.”
Duclos did not offer additional details on when full testing would begin. Officials in his department were unable to offer a specific timeline.
When he and other Cabinet colleagues unveiled the new testing measures on Tuesday, Duclos made clear that the federal government would cover the costs of testing and that all previous COVID-19 testing requirements would remain in effect.
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The other question hanging in the air on Wednesday was whether Canada would currently require exempting American air travelers from the testing requirement, or whether the US would reimpose its own travel ban to Canada given that British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec and Alberta have reported Omicron cases – it all involves people who recently returned from Nigeria.
The federal government has also closed its border to foreign nationals who have recently traveled through 10 African countries, including Nigeria.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, said Wednesday that he recommended to the president that everyone entering the U.S. should undergo a screening test. COVID-19 test.
Not all airports are ready to give new COVID-19 tests to air travelers, says @jyduclos. #CDNPoli # COVID19
“You know that the new regulation, if you want to call it that, is that each and every one of those who enter the country must take a test within 24 hours after taking a plane to come here,” Fauci said at the briefing. of the White House. Wednesday.
Experts suspect that it will be weeks before scientists know whether Omicron is more communicable, leads to more serious disease, or is capable of evading the protection of the vaccine.
Transportation Minister Omar Alghabra said Wednesday it was too early to say whether Canada’s latest requirement to test arriving air travelers for COVID-19 will be extended to include American passengers.
The federal government is in talks with the provinces on that issue, but is ready to act to implement such a requirement for incoming US air travelers if necessary, he said.
“We made a decision at this time about testing all travelers coming from around the world other than the United States. We are having discussions,” Alghabra said.
“We need to be prepared and ready if we need to adjust that decision to include travelers from the United States. We have not made that decision yet.”
Alghabra said the decision would be based on “epidemiology in the United States, around the world.”
Ontario Prime Minister Doug Ford was evasive Wednesday on whether the proof requirement should be extended to include the US.
“The United States will have more discussions with the federal government and the other prime ministers, and also with the territories, to get their opinion, because it’s not just happening in Ontario. It’s just across the border,” Ford said.
Ford said he was pleased that the federal government acted so quickly after he “implored” them to take decisive action after the new variant emerged.
As work continues to determine if COVID-19 vaccines are effective against the new variant, Ford said “the best we can do now is strengthen our borders. Our best defense is to keep the variant out of our country.”
Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé said the federal government reacted quickly with the closure of its borders and new testing requirements.
As for the latter, he said: “Now what we have left to show is when will that start.”
Public Security Minister Marco Mendicino said on Wednesday that pre-departure tests obtained in the 10 African countries listed are no longer valid and that those who return to Canada after traveling through those nations must undergo testing in a third country.
He said that the mandatory tests for all air travelers, with the exception of those arriving from the United States, “will be carried out in the very short term.”
This Canadian Press report was first published on December 1, 2021.
– with files from James McCarten in Washington, Allison Jones in Toronto, and Morgan Lowrie in Montreal.
Reference-www.nationalobserver.com