For travelers and snowbirds who are on the starting blocks, the opening of the US land border on Monday marks the return to normal life. Well, almost normal. Because there remains one last barrier to be removed: the molecular tests that Canada continues to require to return to the country.
When you know that you have to pay between $ 100 and $ 300 to get this test, it is expensive to go for a walk outside the country, especially for families who must, in addition, follow very strict rules. isolation for children.
These tests, which were imposed at the height of the pandemic, so as not to import cases of COVID-19, are increasingly difficult to justify, as the fourth wave calms down and health measures are relaxed in within our borders.
Last week, the Government of Quebec gave citizens even more air. No more masks in secondary schools from November 15th. We can also wiggle on the dance floors and sing the karaoke song. In addition, the teleworking instruction has disappeared, which means that workers will soon return to the offices.
In short, we can quietly return to our good old habits, even if COVID-19 will remain with us for a long time to come.
And we can start making travel plans again, since the Government of Canada recently lifted its warning to avoid non-essential travel for fully vaccinated people (except cruises).
In such a context, it is paradoxical to keep our borders as hermetic as an airlock.
In the field with short stays
The US government has already decided that it would not be necessary to present a molecular test (PCR) to enter the United States by land. So why keep pushing this test in the other direction?
For short stays, this rule is absurd. See instead …
Canada requires a negative test performed 72 hours before arrival in the country. A traveler who goes abroad for less than three days can therefore return home by presenting a test that he underwent in Canada, even before his departure.
If the goal is to prevent a Canadian from bringing COVID-19 in their suitcases after an international trip, we are completely in the field.
So, why not take the test directly to customs, upon returning to Canada, do you respond? It would be useless, will answer you an epidemiologist.
The disease takes a while to develop. If you have a cough in your face and catch COVID-19 today, it will take at least two or three days before the amount of virus is detectable.
So a test when you return to Canada after a weekend in the United States will certainly be negative, even if you caught COVID-19 there.
One way or another, therefore, it is impossible to intercept cases of COVID-19 for short stays abroad. Testing is just a bureaucracy that gives a false sense of security and costs travelers a lot of money.
Belt and suspenders
Even for the longest stays, the tests barely catch any cases. The rules are empty.
Specifically, the positivity rate for border tests was a tiny 0.15%, for fully vaccinated people who returned to Canada in mid-October. Even in people who are partially or not at all vaccinated, the positivity rate is only 0.49%.
All that for this ?
We know that 84% of Canadians aged 12 and over are fully immunized. And in Quebec, we are preparing to launch a sprint of vaccination for children aged 5 to 11 so that they have a first dose before Christmas.
We also know that the vaccine passport is now mandatory to take the plane, regardless of the destination.
So, requiring an additional PCR test is like asking travelers to wear a belt and suspenders at the same time.
At the start of the pandemic, when there was no test, the arrival of infected travelers played an important role in the pandemic. The impact was great, because the disease was rare in Canada.
But now that the virus is circulating in the population, the relatively small cases that would cross the border if testing were eliminated would have little epidemiological impact.
It was therefore encouraging to hear, on Friday, Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer, Dr.D Theresa Tam, say she was actively studying the rules surrounding borders, with an even keener eye for short stays.
Of course, you have to be wary of a possible new variant. But if we give air inside the country, we should also open the windows to the outside.