Close X
Sunday, November 24, 2024
ADVT 
National

Industry demands end to COVID-19 travel testing

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 28 Feb, 2022 05:14 PM
  • Industry demands end to COVID-19 travel testing

Medical professionals and industry groups are calling on Ottawa to end all COVID-19 border testing requirements as the travel sector struggles to recover two years into the pandemic.

Rule changes, including removal of the requirement that fully vaccinated Canadian travellers take a pre-departure COVID-19 molecular test, took effect Monday. 

Rapid antigen tests administered by a health professional remain mandatory for foreign visitors, and for Canadians who want to avoid quarantining at home for 10 days upon return.

At a Monday news conference at the Calgary airport hosted by the Canadian Travel and Tourism Roundtable, WestJet communications vice-president Richard Bartrem said the carrier's flight volume remains at half of its 2019 level of roughly 700 trips per day.

"Fully vaccinated Canadians and inbound visitors should no longer be subject to out-of-pocket testing expenses and outdated measures when returning home," he said.

Dr. Zain Chagla, an infectious diseases physician at St. Joseph's hospital in Hamilton and an associate professor at McMaster University, said that "we really aren't achieving much with what we're throwing at the border other than increasing the inconvenience of the traveller."

"Every variant of concern has made it into Canada and the likelihood of someone acquiring COVID in Canada is not from travel but it is from our day-to-day lives," he said.

Chagla noted that settings ranging from sports arenas to bars and nightclubs do not require a COVID-19 test.

European countries such as the United Kingdom, Denmark and Switzerland have dropped border testing requirements while continuing to surveil for variants in the community via local testing and genome sequencing.

The cost and lower accuracy of rapid tests, which are nonetheless potentially cheaper and easier to access than molecular tests, are another concern.

"We know rapid tests in the era of Omicron are lower sensitivity ... Random individuals are less likely to be positive unless they have symptoms that have been ongoing for some time," Chagla said.

Rapid tests must be taken the day before a scheduled flight or arrival at the land border.

"The likelihood of picking up a positive case is like finding a needle in a haystack. But the costs are not negligible, right? People are still paying $20 to $50 for these tests, so for a family of four it's an extra few hundred dollars into testing," he added.

The federal government announced earlier this month that as of Feb. 28 double-vaccinated air and land travellers no longer need to present a negative result from a molecular test, such as a PCR test, before departure for Canada. They now have the option of a rapid test or a molecular test, the latter taken up to 72 hours beforehand.

Unvaccinated children under 12 are also free of mandatory self-isolation upon return to the country. And Ottawa has lifted its blanket advisory against trips abroad, removing a travel insurance obstacle as well as a mental hurdle for many would-be vacationers on the verge of spring break.

However, random PCR screening of travellers after they arrive at airports or land crossings continues, with test recipients required to self-quarantine until the results come in.

Travel measures triggered by the pandemic have devastated the transport and hospitality sectors, bleeding billions of dollars from Canada's airline sector and shuttering hotels periodically in a whiplash of stop-and-go restrictions.

Wendy Paradis, president of the Association of Canadian Travel Agencies, said in an interview that rapid tests remain an "unnecessary barrier" to family and business travel. 

"Trying to get testing in a foreign country can be difficult," she noted, saying the threat of a false positive — and extra days stuck abroad — marks another worry for working families and time-deficient business travellers.

​Lesley Keyter, founder of the Calgary-based Travel Lady Agency, is asking the federal government to extend wage and rent subsidy program for tourism and hospitality past March 12.

The country logged a record 96.8 million international arrivals — non-residents as well as returning Canadians — in 2019, according to Statistics Canada. The number dropped to 25.9 million in 2020 and 18.8 million in 2021, though it began to recover later in the year, just before the Omicron variant took its toll.

MORE National ARTICLES

583 COVID19 cases for Friday

583 COVID19 cases for Friday
There are 599 individuals hospitalized with COVID-19 and 96 are in intensive care. In the past 24 hours, 12 new deaths have been reported for an overall total of 2,851.

583 COVID19 cases for Friday

Vancouver police release video of violent attack

Vancouver police release video of violent attack
The video shows two men taking turns punching a man's face and kicking his head and stomach as he lies on the ground, while a group of onlookers watches and films the attack.

Vancouver police release video of violent attack

Horgan says B.C. supports Ukraine, condemns Putin

Horgan says B.C. supports Ukraine, condemns Putin
B.C. is working with the federal government and will support whatever sanctions Canada decides to impose to help condemn Russian actions, he said Friday.    

Horgan says B.C. supports Ukraine, condemns Putin

Experts warn of online misinformation on Ukraine

Experts warn of online misinformation on Ukraine
Ukrainian-Canadian journalist and researcher Jane Lytvynenko says the internet has been flooded with confusing and misleading information about how the Russian attack on Ukraine is unfolding.    

Experts warn of online misinformation on Ukraine

Sick leave to top agenda at labour ministers meet

Sick leave to top agenda at labour ministers meet
Work on the actual regulations is set to begin in early March with invites to consultations set to go out Friday, just as O'Regan is scheduled to meet with his provincial and territorial counterparts.

Sick leave to top agenda at labour ministers meet

Budget claims Alberta diversifying from energy

Budget claims Alberta diversifying from energy
Budget documents trumpet billions of dollars flowing into provincial sectors that don't necessarily scream Alberta. Tech, aerospace, financial technology, film and television have all seen growth, as well as more traditional mainstays like petrochemicals.

Budget claims Alberta diversifying from energy