Canada is set to ease its travel and testing rules in less than 48 hours, but the country’s chief public health officer is suggesting the government will throw things into reverse if needed. The Edmonton Journal and Canadian Press report that Dr. Theresa Tam on Friday (Feb. 25) said that nobody knows what the coronavirus will do next, and that Canada has to be ready to bring back some public health measures if case counts begin to rise sharply again. Noting that viruses often pick up steam when cool weather arrives, Tam said Canada needs be ready for the fall, Read more
Dr. Theresa Tam
WestJet has further extended its schedule reductions by 20% through March. “As WestJet continues to navigate ongoing uncertainty and barriers facing travel, the airline is announcing a further extension of its planned schedule consolidations through to March 31, 2022,” officials said Monday morning (Feb. 7). The company on January 18 announced a 20% flight reduction through February 28, 2022. Air Canada Vacations and Transat also have seen a reduction in flights this winter. An Air Canada spokesman this morning said it has nothing further to report on the issue. “For two years, WestJet has gone above and beyond to keep Read more
Chief Medical Officers of Health for Air Canada, Toronto Pearson, and WestJet are calling on Canadian governments to shift PCR testing from airports to communities. In a letter to Canadian Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos and senior health officials in the federal and Ontario governments, the health officers said tests are needed at the community level and not for 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 Read more
There’s growing evidence that Canada is open to changing its on-arrival testing program for international air travellers. A prominent tourism and business group yesterday called for on-arrival tests to be scrapped, arguing they’re not necessary and that tests should be redeployed to help make up for test shortages in Canadian communities. Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer, Theresa Tam, said later in the day that the policy will be evaluated “over time.” “It is a capacity drain on the system as a whole,” she said, acknowledging the concerns raised by the Canadian Travel and Tourism Roundtable group. “Tracking every case isn’t Read more
I like to give folks the benefit of the doubt. But I really am wondering who’s in charge in Ottawa these days. If you read today’s Globe and Mail, you’ll find a startling story in which federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos warns Canadians flying home from any country other than the U.S. that they have to isolate while they await the results of the Trudeau government’s new requirement for on-arrival COVID testing. He’s been saying that for days, so nothing unusual there. But the Globe story goes on to say that “neither he (Duclos) nor Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Read more
