The federal government has not sufficiently increased its capacity for testing for COVID-19 at its airports, so that not all travelers are yet subjected to their theoretically mandatory arrival test. .
“There is always a prioritization of these tests, that is to say that people arriving from abroad are tested [d’une manière] which takes into account the risks posed by these people, ”said Federal Minister of Health, Jean-Yves Duclos, at a press conference on Friday.
Last Tuesday, the government announced the return of the mandatory COVID-19 test for all travelers arriving in the country, even doubly vaccinated, except for those coming from the United States. Ottawa mentioned that it only needed a few days to be able to test all this volume of travelers.
Airports were then able to perform 11,000 screenings per day. About ten days later, Thursday of this week, their capacity was increased to 17,000 tests per day. This is still insufficient to reach the government target of 23,000 tests per day. “There is incomplete capacity up to now, even if it has been increased”, summarizes Minister Duclos.
He says he wants to achieve this capacity “as quickly as possible”. The federal government will use private companies to help it test more travelers, he said, amid uncertainty over the appearance of the Omicron variant, whose transmission is still low in the country. “Canadians should know that the situation abroad is risky and uncertain, […] the rules in other countries can change very quickly, ”Mr. Duclos insists to travelers.
Passengers who take a test on arrival in the country must self-isolate while receiving the result, which normally takes a day, but no more than three days.
Quick tests on the road
Federal and provincial health ministers attended a meeting on Wednesday. They have collectively asked the federal government to provide them with 35 million rapid tests for the holiday season, reports Jean-Yves Duclos.
“We will respond to requests from provinces and territories and ensure that these tests are delivered in time for the holiday season,” he promises.
On Thursday, the Quebec government announced that it would distribute 3 million of these rapid tests to elementary and preschool children by the holiday break, so families can test themselves for COVID-19.