Canada eyes policy on travel from India

Canada's top public health doctor says the federal government is looking into flights arriving from India amid reports that a massive surge of COVID-19 cases is ravaging that country.

Chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam says Ottawa has generally opted for measures that are not country-specific, such as a pre-boarding test for COVID-19, tests on arrival and government-mandated quarantine.

But she says India could be a special case due to a "variant of interest" there that may be fuelling a massive outbreak of COVID-19.

LIVE: Federal health officials provide COVID-19 update https://t.co/NnLTXImzgU

— Health Canada and PHAC (@GovCanHealth) April 21, 2021

India recorded nearly 300,000 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday alone, with 2,000 more deaths linked to the virus.

According to the federal government, there have been 35 flights from India with at least one case of COVID-19 that have arrived in Canada in the last two weeks.

Ontario's government, for one, is "pleading" with Ottawa to ban travel from India and other hot-spot countries.

The provincial government says cases of COVID-19 are pouring in through international borders.

House leader Paul Calandra told question period that it's critical that the federal Liberals act now to prevent more variants from infiltrating Canada.