The Canadian Travel and Tourism Roundtable is calling on the federal government to redeploy PCR tests used for on-arrival testing of fully-vaccinated, asymptomatic and previously negative travellers into Canada for community use and for a return to randomized on-arrival testing for surveillance purposes. “On December 17, the federal government announced additional measures to contain the spread of the Omicron variant,” The Roundtable said in a statement. “This included the increase of on-arrival PCR testing for travellers arriving from destinations other than the United States and isolation until test results are received, despite all travellers being fully vaccinated, asymptomatic and having Read more
PCR tests
A top Canadian doctor says Canada doesn’t need to require PCR tests for incoming travellers. “What’s really clear is that COVID is everywhere and that it’s not travel that’s the major source of spread,” said Dr. David Carr, an emergency medicine professor in the Division of Emergency Medicine at the University of Toronto, told the CBC. “Making people repeat their PCR [test] upon arrival is deflecting resources away from where they could be better spent,” he said. “As we watch the loosening of other requirements, such as isolation periods, it would seem that loosening of requirements around travel should follow Read more
An influential Canadian tourism group is urging Ottawa to loosen testing restrictions and allow arriving passengers to get rapid COVID-19 tests. The Canadian government currently requires arriving passengers to provide a negative result from a PCR-style COVID test taken within 72 hours of their scheduled departure. But those tests are expensive, and results in some cases are taking longer than 72 hours to be reported. And that makes travel difficult. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson this week said it will no longer require re-departure tests for people travelling to Great Britain. The Guardian reports that Johnson said the Omicron variant Read more
Doubly vaccinated passengers will no longer have to take pre-departure Covid tests in England beginning Friday morning, the BBC reports. Arriving visitors with two vaccinations also won’t have to go into quarantine while waiting for post-arrival test results, the network said. “If they arrive after 04:00 GMT on Sunday, they will be able to take a lateral flow test on day two and only need a PCR (test) if the result is positive,” the BBC said. The Independent reports that the rules will remain the same for unvaccinated or partly vaccinated arrivals 18 and older. Those travellers need to present Read more
As if dealing with COVID-19 and the Omicron variant weren’t enough, travelers are now facing problems lining up the tests they need to travel. Canadians who travel outside the country and want to return need to show negative results from a PCR-style COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours of their scheduled departure. But there are reports of long lineups at testing sites in the U.S., which is frustrating travelers to no end. Fox13 News in Tampa said the demand for testing has risen quickly as new virus cases rise in the Tampa Bay Area. “Hillsborough County has seen more than Read more
