PHOTO DAVID BOILY, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Upon arrival in Canada, travelers must still present a test carried out by certified experts, even if they are doubly vaccinated.
Posted at 11:00 a.m.
Observation: At the very beginning of the pandemic, Justin Trudeau was heavily criticized for the fact that there were no restrictions on travelers entering or leaving the country. Now it is being criticized for quite the opposite.
Donald Archambault
Answer: Scalded cat fears cold water. This is how Ottawa, which was criticized for its laxity at the border at the start of the pandemic, still imposes much stricter rules on travelers than other countries.
It is true that the Minister of Health Jean-Yves Duclos announced in February a series of relaxations which came into force last week. Very good.
Except that travelers must still present a test carried out by certified experts (PCR or antigenic) before returning to the country, by land, air or sea, even if they are doubly vaccinated. This adds to the costs of the trip.
And even if they arrive with a negative result in their luggage, some randomly selected passengers still need to take another PCR test upon arrival in Canada. Fortunately, they no longer have to isolate themselves while waiting for the test result.
Why keep these rules in place when many countries, such as France, the UK, Italy and Cuba, do not require testing for vaccinated travellers? Other countries such as Mexico, the Dominican Republic or Switzerland have dropped this requirement for everyone.
In our country, PCR tests are no longer used for population screening. So why at the airport? Why this useless bill?
Provinces that believe we must now learn to live with COVID-19 are dropping health measures one by one.
In Quebec, almost all the constraints were lifted on Saturday: all public places can operate at 100% capacity, there is no longer a limit per table in restaurants, the vaccination passport is no longer compulsory anywhere, dancing and karaoke are new permits… Even the mask will no longer be required from mid-April at the latest.
Obviously, we must remain vigilant in the face of Omicron and the BA.2 variant, which would now represent 10% of cases in Quebec. But the situation is improving in the health system.
Admittedly, the news is good. At last !
Ottawa must therefore give air to travelers and put the tests aside.
For short stays, this rule is particularly absurd. A Canadian going abroad for less than three days can return home by presenting a negative PCR test carried out 72 hours before their return, which means that they may have taken this test in Canada even before their departure.
This is not how we are going to prevent a Canadian from bringing back COVID-19 in his suitcases after a stay abroad!
And having these travelers take the test directly at customs, on returning to Canada, would not make it possible to detect a disease contracted abroad since it takes about three days after contracting the virus for the disease to be detectable.
In short, all these tests are pointless. Hurry the exit.