More than 5,000 people tested positive for COVID-19 after flying back to Canada since mandatory quarantine hotels began in late February, including 3,748 people who tested positive the day they returned despite having to show a negative COVID-19 test taken no more than three days before they boarded their plane.

The data suggest about 1.5% of incoming travellers test positive on the day they land in Canada and 40% of those people were infected with one of the three variants of concern Canada is tracking.

Another 1,411 people tested positive on the test required 10 days after they returned.

The data is current as of April 29, and the number of confirmed variants among travellers is three times as high as the data reported from seven days earlier as more test results were submitted to the Public Health Agency of Canada.

The case load is also significantly higher than that reported a week earlier when 2,000 people were reported to have tested positive, though the data does not suggest a jump of 3,000 in just seven days.

In the initial figures showed that between April 7 and 24, the public health agency identified 165 flights from 19 countries, with at least one passenger who later tested positive for COVID-19. Forty-three of the flights came from India, 29 from the United States, 30 from Europe and 17 from the United Arab Emirates. One flight originated in Pakistan.