The Public Health Agency of Canada is making it easier for fully vaccinated travelers to return home by ending the requirement to provide a quarantine plan as of April 25. These travelers will also no longer be forced to wear a mask in indoor public places for fourteen days.
“Given the fact that the vast majority of Canadians have been vaccinated, I think this is a good time to relax the measure,” explained the Dr Howard Njoo, Deputy Chief Public Health Officer.
However, Canadians will need to follow provincial restrictions. Thus, the mask will still be necessary in public places for Quebecers, for example, where it is compulsory until mid-May.
The government, however, remains cautious in relaxing other measures, added the Dr Howard Njoo. As proof, he is not planning, for the moment, to end the obligation to wear the mask on an airplane, as has been the case in the United States since Monday.
Waiver of this requirement is yet to be assessed, said Chief Public Health Officer Dr.D Theresa Tam. “It is still prudent to wear the mask”, recalled the DD Tam Friday. “It doesn’t restrict travel and it’s one of the least intrusive measures,” she says.
The lifting of domestic quarantine requirements was announced a week after the Easter long weekend. According to Public Health, the impact of the Easter holiday on the number of hospitalizations will only be known in two or three weeks. For now, the hospitalization rate “seems manageable” and the number of patients in intensive care remains low, described the Dr Howard Njoo. Canada will see a spike in hospitalizations, but the peak will be lower than that of the sixth wave.
The strong majority of COVID cases are currently associated with Omicron’s BA.2 subvariant.
This story is supported by the Local Journalism Initiative, funded by the Government of Canada.