Two prominent Canadian doctors are calling for an end to Canada’s “futile” and “obsolete” PCR testing rules.
Speaking at a Canadian Travel and Tourism Roundtable press event at Toronto Pearson Airport, Dr. Zain Chagla, Infectious Diseases Physician and Associate Professor at McMaster University, said COVID-19 testing at the border doesn’t make any sense.
“Travel is no more risky than other activities and there is no scientific reason to single it out,” Chagla said. “When first put in place, Canada’s travel rules were designed to keep COVID-19 out of the country. Now that the virus is here and community spread is responsible for approximately 99 per cent of all infections, the rules governing travel are obsolete.”
“There are higher risk, domestic settings that vaccinated people can access without testing than travelling internationally,” such as bars, said Dr. Dominik Mertz, Division Director of Infectious Diseases at McMaster. The travel barriers the federal government has put in place to slow the arrival of COVID-19 no longer make sense and should be eliminated.”
Chagla said his and Mertz’s comments aren’t theoretical.
“We work at hospitals” and see the evidence first-hand, he said.
“Testing at the border won’t prevent the virus from staying here in Canada,” Mertz said. He also noted that less than one per cent of COVID-19 cases in Canada are associated with international travel.
The two doctors and the Roundtable are calling on the federal government to remove unnecessary and non-science-based obstacles to international travel, such as the pre-departure and on-arrival PCR tests for fully vaccinated travellers.
“Canada’s current COVID-19 travel restrictions are obsolete and out of step with other countries worldwide, including the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and Denmark, which have removed all testing requirements at their respective borders for fully vaccinated travellers, acknowledging a different phase of pandemic management,” the Roundtable said. “Further, the vast majority of Canadian travellers are fully vaccinated, as is the industry which serves them.”
Mertz said travel restrictions made sense when we didn’t know what we were dealing with.
“But this is one of the most studied viruses out there. We know how to reduce risks, and we have vaccine that have performed very well against (the) Omicron (variant).”
“PCR tests often deliver positive results for weeks to a couple of months after a COVID-19 diagnosis,” Mertz said. “This reality presents a challenge for those infected during the Omicron wave while no longer having access to PCR testing in Canada. These Canadians may be facing a first positive test in the pre-departure testing abroad and as such may be unable to return – while no longer infectious and in fact, being the best protected travellers. This policy is unnecessarily stranding Canadian’s abroad, leading to travel delays, financial penalties and potentially hazardous quarantine locations.”
“Since the pandemic’s beginning, the travel and tourism sector has made significant investments to ensure the health and safety of travelling Canadians,” Roundtable members said. “The Roundtable is calling on the federal government to provide a swift re-opening timeline for the sector, as all other industries across the country have received.
“The pandemic, vaccination status, and available science have evolved; so too should the response and measures to keep Canadians safe while allowing the travel and tourism industry to re-open,” the group stated.
The Association of Canadian Independent Travel Agents recently conducted a survey and found that more than 65% of agents believe PCR testing in destination is the single greatest deterrent for consumers to book new travel.
“Clients are most worried about testing positive in destination and having to quarantine in a foreign country,” the group said in news release this week.
ACITA noted that a number of countries have eliminated the need for a negative pre-departure COVID-19 test results for vaccinated travellers, including Ireland, Germany and the UK.
