Ottawa:
Canada will call for travellers to receive a unfavorable Covid-19 test ahead of getting permitted into the nation, the government announced Wednesday.
The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests will need to have to be carried out inside 3 days of boarding a flight, officials told a news conference.
Upon arrival travellers will nonetheless have to quarantine for 14 days.
Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic Leblanc stated the new measure — along with elevated monitoring at Canadian airports — would be in spot “quickly,” but did not provide a precise date.
It comes soon after a new strain was identified in Britain, and has currently spread to Canada.
At the exact same time, Ontario’s finance minister, Rod Phillips, was publicly chided this week for taking a household holiday in the Caribbean just as Canada’s most populous province went into lockdown and the quantity of new each day Covid-19 circumstances across Canada hit record highs.
“Although most Canadians have heeded advice for non-essential travel, some Canadians are still travelling for non-essential reasons. This is deeply concerning,” stated deputy chief public wellness officer Howard Njoo.
“We must iterate that now is not the time to travel,” he stated.
Only about two % of Covid-19 circumstances in Canada have been traced to current travel.
Its borders have been closed to most non-critical travel considering that March, and final week Canada halted entry of all flights from Britain more than the new virus variant.
Days later, Ottawa confirmed the initial circumstances of the specifically infectious coronavirus variant in Canada.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford, meanwhile, has criticized Phillips for vacationing outdoors Canada when officials are urging against travel, and has ordered him back residence.
“I have let the minister know that his decision to travel is completely unacceptable and that it will not be tolerated again — by him or any member of our cabinet and caucus,” Ford stated in a statement.
“I have also told the minister I need him back in the country immediately.”
As of Wednesday, Canada reported 571,070 Covid-19 circumstances, which includes 15,440 deaths.
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