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
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Tourism Ireland welcomes news about the lifting of additional pre-testing requirement for travel to the island of Ireland. For visitors arriving into the Republic of Ireland from today (January 6) onward, vaccinated people with a valid Digital Covid Certificate or another valid proof of recent infection or vaccination will not need a test. Unvaccinated people will need a “not detected” PCR test result taken within 72 hours of their arrival into Ireland. These new regulations are effective immediately for the Republic of Ireland: • Vaccinated or recovered travellers into Ireland will be required to present evidence of a valid Digital 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
The Canadian government is not going to be closing its borders to battle Omicron, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said today. Speaking at Rideau Cottage in Ottawa, Trudeau said the Omicron variants “is already here.” “Shutting down the borders at this point would not be an effective measure,” Trudeau said. The government instead feels its best to try to limit gathering sizes and improve COVID-19 testing, he said. Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos echoed Trudeau’s comments, saying Canada has “some of the strongest border measures” in the world. He also noted that visitors to Canada must be tested for the coronavirus before Read more
It became a little tougher today for Canadians to travel. Just after midnight Eastern Time today, December 21, new rules brought in by the government of Canada to combat the Omicron variant took effect. Under the new regulations, any Canadian who leaves the country must submit a negative PCR test before they’re allowed to return, even if they’re only gone for a few hours. The government was allowing Canadians who left the country for less than 72 hours to get tested before they left on their trip. But the ruling Liberals passed new legislation last week that revoked that policy. Read more
