Relentless pressure continues on the federal government to remove mandatory PCR pre-departure testing requirements for fully vaccinated travellers as a group of Canadian doctors claimed yesterday that the protocols are “unnecessary and non-science-based obstacles to international travel.”
In conjunction with the Canadian Travel and Tourism Roundtable, the doctors called Canada’s current COVID-19 travel restrictions “obsolete and out of step with other countries worldwide,” including the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and Denmark, which have removed all testing requirements at their respective borders for fully vaccinated travellers, acknowledging a different phase of pandemic management.
“Further, the vast majority of Canadian travellers are fully vaccinated, as is the industry which serves them,” they say.
The sentiments echo ongoing calls from across the travel industry, including WestJet (again) early this week, and the Association of Canadian Independent Travel Agents (ACITA) on Wednesday, which launched a formal sponsored petition to the House of Commons calling for the tests to be eliminated.
“COVID-19 testing at the border does not make any sense; travel is no more risky than other activities and there is no scientific reason to single it out,” said Infectious Diseases Physician and Associate Professor at McMaster University Dr. Zain Chagla.
“When first put in place, Canada’s travel rules were designed to keep COVID-19 out of the country. Now that the virus is here and community spread is responsible for approximately 99% of all infections, the rules governing travel are obsolete,” he added.
McMaster’s Division Director of Infectious Diseases at McMaster Dr. Dominik Mertz pointed out that PCR tests may deliver positive results for weeks to a couple of months after a COVID-19 diagnosis, which presents a challenge for those infected during the Omicron wave while no longer having access to PCR testing in Canada.
“These Canadians,” he said, “may be facing a first positive test in the pre-departure testing abroad and as such may be unable to return – while no longer infectious and in fact, being the best protected travellers. This policy is unnecessarily stranding Canadian’s abroad, leading to travel delays, financial penalties and potentially hazardous quarantine locations.”
The Roundtable, which represents a cross section of the Canadian travel and tourism industry (including airports, airlines, hotels, and chambers of commerce across the country), is further calling for the government to provide a re-opening timeline for the sector, as all other industries across the country have received.
“The pandemic, vaccination status, and available science have evolved; so too should the response and measures to keep Canadians safe while allowing the travel and tourism industry to re-open,” it says.