The Justin Trudeau government has announced a four-week advisory for Canadians to avoid non-essential travel. The government today also suggested new testing rules could be coming. Canadian Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said the federal government’s advisory will be posted in the next few hours. He also said Ottawa will continue to expand capacity “to test as many people as possible as quickly as possible,” and that the government “will more have to say on that in the very near future.” “There will certainly be other measures,” he said. “All actions are on the table.” “We must stand together,” the minister Read more
Jean-Yves Duclos
More than a week after the Canadian government announced increased testing at Canadian airports, they’re only halfway to the final target. Worried about the discovery of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, the federal government on November 30 announced that all passengers arriving at Canadian airports from destinations other than Canada and the U.S. would need to be tested. Exactly how testing would work was unclear, and it’s been slow to roll out. Canadian Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos on Friday conceded that Canada’s airport testing, which is the responsibility of the federal government, is nowhere near its final target. Duclos said Read more
Canada’s Health Minister today warned Canadians that travelling outside the country is “risky and unstable.” He also said a formal “do not travel” warning could come later. Speaking to reporters in Ottawa, Jean-Yves Duclos said the Omicron variant around the world is making international travel difficult, and that coming home is increasingly complicated and unpredictable. Duclos said Canadians should be “more vigilant” when travelling outside the country. Omicron hasn’t been a major issue domestically, he said, but “If they think about travelling outside of Canada should be a red, a big red part of their radar screen. It should be flashing, 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
The government of Canada says arriving passengers at Canadian airports may need to isolate for three days while they await COVID-19 test results. The Trudeau government on Tuesday announced that all travellers coming into Canada from countries other than the U.S. will have to be tested for COVID-19 on arrival, even if they’re fully vaccinated. They also will have to isolate while they await their test results. The on-arrival test is in addition to the PCR test that Ottawa requires travellers to take within 72 hours of their scheduled flight departure for Canada. Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos on Wednesday said Read more
