(Ottawa) The federal Minister of Health is clearly suggesting that his government is preparing to revise its travel advisory.
Jean-Yves Duclos appeared in front of a microphone when he left the Commons, Tuesday afternoon, to report that at the Council of Ministers, a few hours earlier, we were very concerned about the spread of the Omicron variant through the planet.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was to resume this discussion with his provincial counterparts the same evening.
According to Duclos, the Omicron variant “deploys very quickly”.
“Our concern is that Canadians will be stuck abroad because of the rapidly changing measures other countries may put in place, and also because of the significant risk that there may be of catching this variant,” this virus, during a trip abroad, ”he said.
“And if so, things could be very complicated for these Canadians outside the country,” he warned.
Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole does not seem convinced of the need to once again advise Canadians to stay in the country.
“I encourage all travelers, all Canadians to get vaccinated,” replied O’Toole when raised with the possibility.
“It is possible with a very high level of vaccination to reduce hospitalizations and the spread of COVID-19. And now is the time to use measures like vaccines, social distancing and the rules in a reasonable way for Christmas and for our economy, ”he said.
In the spring of 2020, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ottawa had organized dozens of repatriation flights for citizens trapped outside of Canada. Travelers were advised to avoid all travel abroad.
On October 21, Ottawa lifted its advice to avoid non-essential travel outside the country. Federal authorities continued to urge caution. They seem ready to issue a new opinion.
When the Omicron variant manifested itself just over two weeks ago, the federal government announced the entry ban for travelers coming from a number of countries where it was first detected. Since then, cases of this new, highly contagious variant have been reported almost everywhere.
Ottawa has planned to test all travelers arriving in the country, except those from the United States, to curb Omicron’s entry into Canada. It was quickly realized that, even by sparing those, too numerous, arriving from south of the border, the Canadian authorities did not have the means to pass the test to all the other travelers.
Last Friday, Minister Duclos calculated that 23,000 travelers had to be tested per day and that at that time it was only possible to administer 17,000 tests per day at airports across the country.