Major Canadian airlines are cancelling their air service to sun destinations, including the Caribbean and Mexico starting this Sunday until April 30, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced.
The airlines, including Air Canada, WestJet, Sunwing, and Air Transat, will be making arrangements with their customers in these regions to organize their flights home.
International flights will only be allowed to land at four airports: Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, and Montreal.
Starting February, there will be a second mandatory COVID-19 test for arriving passengers. As they wait for the result, they will be required to quarantine for three days at a supervised hotel. The stay will cost $2,000 per person, including the cost of private tests and the hotel stay.
If the travellers receive a negative test result, they can go home to quarantine with enhanced supervision. According to what the Prime Minister said, this includes private security recently hired by the government.
If the test results are positive, they will be transferred to a government facility.
Based on the data analyzed, fewer than 2% of COVID-19 cases can be traced to Canadians returning to the country. “This is proof our current measures are working, but as I’ve said, one case is one case too many, and we must take into account new variants,” said Trudeau.
The Prime Minister added that the new additional measures are to prevent the variants from entering the country, which scientists “are closely tracking.” He also expressed that even one case of the variant that comes in could “cause significant challenges.”
Trudeau declared these “decisions are not made lightly” and stated these measures are “informed, effective decisions that take in all factors and their consequences.”
Trudeau also remarked that Canada’s borders had been closed to non-essential international travellers for almost a year. The country implemented a two-week quarantine and has asked Canadian residents and citizens to have a negative COVID-19 test result before returning to the country. Since earlier this month, travellers must also show proof of a negative COVID-19 test before arriving in Canada.
“By putting in place these tough measures now, we can look forward to a better time, when we can plan those vacations,” said the Prime Minister.He also said Canada will begin requiring non-essential travellers to show a negative test before entry at the land border with the U.S. in the coming weeks.
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