Canada is unlikely to change its on-arrival PCR testing rules anytime soon, says federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos.
Speaking to the media on Monday, Duclos said the Omicron variant is still too severe to drop mandatory COVID-19 tests for air travellers arriving in Canada.
Duclos said the surge propelled by the Omicron variant remains “a great concern” both in Canada and internationally, The Toronto Star reports.
“At the moment, it’s not going to happen,” Duclos said in French when asked Monday about dropping the testing requirement for people who fly into Canada.
“We are probably, in Canada, not even at the peak of infections,” he said.
Earlier this week, the chief medical officers for Air Canada and WestJet, as well as the chief medical officer for Toronto Pearson Airport, wrote to Duclos and other government officials asking that on-arrival tests be scrapped.
The officers said it would be wiser and more effective if those tests were shipped to needy communities, rather than being used on double-vaccinated travellers.
“Over the last two months, Omicron has quickly become the predominant variant of COVID-19. As it spreads throughout our communities, we need to ensure Canada’s limited testing resources are being used where Canadians need them most—to support our communities, schools, hospitals and long-term care homes,” they said in their letter.
Duclos said things could change, but it doesn’t sound like the Trudeau government will let it happen any time soon.
The European Union this week removed Canada from its list of safe countries for travel into Europe.
