Canada’s restrictions on international travel drastically reduced the number of COVID-19 cases entering the country during the first waves of the pandemic but were insufficient to prevent new outbreaks, according to a new study led by University of British Columbia researchers. The study, published today in eLife, used publicly available viral genome sequences to create a detailed timeline of how the virus was entering Canada from January 2020 to March 2021, and the resulting chains of transmission. The genomic data was used to identify the geographic origin of COVID-19 cases, enabling the identification of 2,263 instances where COVID-19 was imported into Read more
travel restrictions
Americans are feeling more confident about travel, and two in five are likely to take a trip to Canada this year. New research from Destination Canada paints a pretty good picture for summer tourism north of the border, but there are still concerns about COVID-19 and fuel costs. Compared to December of last year, American’s confidence to travel has increased significantly, with 56% saying that they are confident that they can travel safely in the current environment. In December that figure was just 38%. Thirty eight per cent of Americans indicate that they are likely to travel to Canada sometime Read more
Two of Europe’s most popular destinations are ending travel restrictions on Monday. Published reports say Switzerland’s State Secretariat of Migration (SEM) has lifted all entry restrictions that were put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Switzerland is open,” said Pascal Prinz, Director for Switzerland Tourism in Canada. “We warmly welcome travel-starved Canadians to enjoy the fresh air of the Swiss Alps, discover our quirky boutique towns, and explore our four language regions. No tests, no certificate, no forms, and no quarantine are required in Switzerland. ” Prinz said Air Canada and SWISS/Lufthansa Group are ramping up their flight schedule to Read more
Canada isn’t ditching its mask rules for airplane and train passengers, at least not yet. A U.S. federal court judge on Monday quashed the U.S. masking law. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in the States then announced it would no longer enforce masking rules on airlines. Canadian Transport Minister Omar Alghabra on Tuesday gave no indication that the Trudeau government plans to drop its masking requirement for air and train passengers in Canada in the near future, according to the CBC. “We constantly consult our experts and whenever the advice that we receive changes because the circumstances change, we will Read more
The Canadian polling company Leger published a study about Canadian airports this week. After surveying residents in each respective market, here’s what they came up with. What do YOU think? Add a comment to the comments section. 1. Vancouver International Airport (YVR) (Reputation Score: 71) 2. Halifax Stanfield International Airport (YHZ) (Reputation Score: 65) 3. YUL Montréal-Trudeau International Airport (Reputation Score: 64) 4. Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) (Reputation Score: 59) 5. Calgary International Airport (YYC) (Reputation Score: 55) 6. Winnipeg International Airport (YWG) (Reputation Score: 48) 7. Edmonton International Airport (YEG) (Reputation Score: 40) 8. Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport (YTO) (Reputation Score: 31) 9. Abbotsford International Airport (YXX) (Reputation Score: 25) 10. Jean Lesage International Airport Read more
