Canada has announced it will make arriving passengers take additional Covid tests and require them to enter hotel quarantine.
Travellers already have to provide proof of a negative Covid-19 test taken within 72 hours before their scheduled departure time. The government has announced that “in the near future” arrivals will have to:
• take a Covid-19 molecular test on arrival in Canada
• stay in a hotel for three nights while they await the results of the test they received on arrival, which they will have to pay for.
On 3 February, the government restricted international flights to Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto Peason and Montreal-Trudeau airports.
Arrivals will still have to complete a mandatory 14-day quarantine.
Canada’s transport minister Omar Alghabram, said: “The safety of the travelling public and the transportation industry are top priorities. Our government continues to strongly advise against non-essential travel outside Canada, and has implemented many measures to protect the health of Canadians in our transportation system.
“The expansion of the flight restrictions is based on decisive, public health rationale from the Public Health Agency of Canada to further protect Canadians from the health impacts of Covid-19.”