Travelers worry Omicron variant will cause chaos and cancel flights

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Anxious travelers at Montreal’s Trudeau International Airport expressed concern and exasperation Monday over talks about new travel restrictions due to mounting concerns about the Omicron variant of COVID-19.

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With Quebec and Ontario urging the federal government to impose tests for the new variant on all international travelers upon arrival at airports, and some countries closing their borders to foreigners all together, several travelers who spoke to the Montreal Gazette said they fear. complications abroad and when they try to return to Canada.

Malisha Rahman was on her way from Toronto, via Montreal, to her native Bangladesh, where she planned to spend three weeks. The trip was necessary, he said, as he needs to collect his college transcripts to continue his master’s degree at the University of Toronto. Bangladesh’s public health authorities recently recommended banning travelers from countries where Omicron has been detected.

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This is concerning, he said, as Canada confirmed its first two Omicron cases over the weekend. Quebec confirmed its first case on Monday and has identified 115 travelers who arrived in Quebec from the seven African countries on Canada’s watch list.

“Of course everyone is worried and so am I,” Rahman said. “I was unable to go to my country for six or seven months due to border restrictions. COVID has decreased in recent months in my country, so I am leaving, but yesterday I heard that the new variant has arrived here. So yeah, I’m a little worried about whether I will be able (to enter Bangladesh) and whether I will be able to come back here in three weeks, or not. “

Ahmed Saleh’s brow was furrowed with concern as he sat down on a bench in the starting area. Hunched over his cell phone, he was trying to find a flight to Egypt for his wife and young son. He had just learned that the flight they were booked on from Morocco to Cairo had been canceled by the Moroccan government due to concerns about foreigners bringing the Omicron variant. The family had come to Montreal from their home in Ottawa, with plans to fly through Morocco to Cairo to attend to a family emergency. Now Saleh has to find another way to get there, which could mean delays, which could mean more testing for COVID-19.

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“We will have to find another way to get them to Egypt. And we’ll probably have to get another PCR test, which costs another $ 170. I got them a VIP service in Cairo to pick them up, for $ 200. Now all those arrangements are just gone. “

He said his wife had planned to stay with their family in Cairo for several weeks. But with the Canadian government deliberating on new travel measures, depending on how transmissible and dangerous this new variant turns out to be, he worries that it will be stuck in Cairo for weeks. They are considering shortening the trip to be safe.

“They might only stay a few days,” Saleh said. “We have two other children at home.”

Morgan MacNeill, a mining worker heading from his home in Kitchener-Waterloo to Val-d’Or, via Montreal, said he is not at all surprised by this new round of chaos caused by the emergence of a new variant of COVID-19. You travel regularly for work and must be constantly tested for COVID-19 when entering and leaving mining camps.

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“I’m not an expert, but it seems obvious that until people in all the poorest countries are vaccinated as well, we will be chasing our tails,” he said.

On Monday, Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé asked Quebecers planning to travel to other countries to reconsider their plans.

“I don’t think any country can say that we don’t have the Omicron right now,” he said. “I’ve been listening to some of the experts in the last 24 hours and what is happening in Ottawa, what is happening in Quebec today, I think it probably already happened in the United States. That is why we say that we must be prudent and that if you don’t need to travel, I would avoid it. “

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