Mandatory screening at Canadian airports for all air travelers, except those from the United States, is expected to be implemented in the coming days.
The federal government announced this new measure to curb the Omicron variant the day before. Screening tests will be mandatory at all airports for travelers, whether or not they are vaccinated against COVID-19. They will have to isolate themselves while waiting for a negative result.
Unvaccinated travelers will need to self-isolate for 14 days and be re-tested on day 8.
While Quebec’s Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, welcomed the federal government’s initiative, he still wondered about the date of entry into force of these measures. At a press conference, Mr. Dubé said he raised the issue during a call with his federal counterpart, Jean-Yves Duclos, and all the health ministers of the provinces and territories.
The answer came from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Speaking at the entrance to his caucus meeting on Wednesday morning, he argued that his government intends to implement this measure in Canadian airports “as quickly as possible”.
“All arriving travelers have taken a pre-boarding test. […] We were already doing random screening, ”said Mr. Trudeau. “What we are doing is increasing so that it is there for everyone and we expect it to be done in the days or the week to come,” he said. he argued.
Its Minister of Public Security, Marco Mendicino, said the new measure would be effective “in the very short term”.
From the United States
In its Tuesday evening announcement, the federal government stressed that air travelers from the United States would not be subject to this mandatory drug test when arriving in Canada. A first case of the Omicron variant has been detected in the United States. Canada has seven cases of this new variant so far.
Could the exemption for the United States be revised? Federal Transport Minister Omar Alghabra has not closed the door.
“I don’t know,” he dropped at the entrance to his caucus meeting. “It will depend if the situation changes, it will depend on the conditions in the United States… so everything is still very fluid, but if the circumstances change, we will revise our decision,” he said.
Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer, Dr Theresa Tam, provided further details on the seven cases of the Omicron variant that have been identified in Canada, four in Ontario, one in Quebec, one in Alberta and one in British Columbia.
In a message relayed on Twitter, Dr Tam said those infected were travelers from Nigeria and had not traveled together. At the time of their interview with Public Health, they were all asymptomatic or had mild symptoms of COVID-19.
“At this time, there is no evidence of transmission in the country despite the close monitoring of laboratories and #PublicHealth authorities across Canada,” wrote the Chief Administrator, while urging Canadians to attend. caution.