Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the US and Canada have agreed to keep the border closed to nonessential travel for another 30 days. Trudeau says it will keep people on both sides of the border safe amid the pandemic. Donald Trump said last week that the US Canada border will be among the first borders to open. Nearly 200,000 people normally cross the border daily.
The US has more confirmed cases and deaths from COVID-19 than any country in the world. The US and Canada agreed last month to limit border crossings to essential travel amid the pandemic. The agreement was due to expire today, April 20. It will now be extended till at least May 20.
Mandatory masks
Starting Monday, people flying to or from Canadian airports will have to have masks to contain their germs. Transport Minister Marc Garneau says that starting at noon on April 20, passengers won’t be allowed to board planes unless they have non-medical face coverings, to try to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Passengers will only have to wear the masks when they have to be close to others, such as at screening points or if the planes are crowded.
Travellers will have to show that they have the required non-medical mask or face covering at the time of boarding. Air carriers are responsible for advising passengers when purchasing tickets that they must have a non-medical mask or face cover during the trip when physical distance does not exist to avoid endangering the safety of others
Masks are being encouraged for passengers on boats, ferries, trains and buses but are not being made mandatory for those means of transportation.
Canadian Airlines
Following Transport Canada’s directive, Air Canada is making its recommended face-covering practice mandatory as an additional safeguard for its customers and crew. This requirement will apply to customers at various points in Canadian airports, during the boarding process and during flight as may be directed by Air Canada staff where social distancing is not possible.
The requirement is effective April 20. Travellers will be required to show that they have a suitable face covering prior to boarding Air Canada flights. Those who do not have their own face-covering will be provided with a suitable mask at security by CATSA. Since early April, Air Canada has been strongly recommending that all customers wear a face-covering over their mouth and noses while onboard its flights following revised recommendations by the Public Health Agency of Canada.
Now customers on all itineraries must wear such protection at check-in, at time of boarding, and upon entering the aircraft where social distancing is not possible. Customers will be asked to lower their masks to facilitate full ID checks as required by Canadian regulations at check-in.
While on board, customers will be required to wear their face coverings, in accordance with the Ministerial Directive and in accordance with the directions from the cabin crew. Customers may bring their own face covering which may include a cloth mask, scarf or similar item. See PHAC website (https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health.html) for examples of recommended non-medical coverings.
Critical medical-grade masks will continue to be strictly reserved for frontline workers. Air Canada has also implemented social (physical) distancing where possible during boarding and where feasible, on-board its aircraft, with as few people sitting next to one another as possible. Air Canada also recommends customers check-in online or via the Air Canada App prior to arriving at airports to minimize social contact at airport check-in areas.
Transat plans to use the federal emergency wage subsidy to rehire 4,000 employees it had temporarily laid off after halting all flights due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Transat says the employees, 1,900 of whom are flight attendants, will not be required to work as part of their recall.
The returning staff will receive 75 percent of their baseline pay up to a maximum of $847 per week, as defined in federal legislation passed last week.
“Temporarily laying off a large majority of our employees was a necessary but heartbreaking decision,” Transat CEO Jean-Marc Eustache said in a statement.
Eustache added that he hopes the announcement will provide some comfort for staff, 80 percent of whom had been laid off.
On March 23, Transat announced it would lay off 3,600 workers as it suspended its entire Air Transat flight schedule, a move followed by 400 other furloughs.
Since then the airline business has gone into a further tailspin as closed borders and travel controls cratered demand. The International Air Transport Association predicts revenues will fall by US$314 billion this year, or 55 percent from 2019.
Montreal
Montreal’s Samuel De Champlain Bridge will continue to show support to Montrealers and Canadians during this challenging period by displaying its rainbow lights every Sunday evening, from 8:30 to 9:30 pm, during the month of April.
Catherine McKenna, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities said, “Every Sunday in April, the Samuel De Champlain Bridge will take on the colours of the rainbow as a symbol of support to Montrealers, Canadians, and all countries that are facing these difficult times with resilience and courage. Take care of yourselves. Together, we will get through this.”
Great Britain
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth doesn’t want a gun salute for her birthday because she doesn’t think it’s appropriate during the coronavirus pandemic. The British monarch, who turns 94 on Tuesday, decided not to publicly mark the occasion in any special way, including the artillery salute she traditionally gets on her birthday.
“Her Majesty was keen that no special measures were put in place to allow gun salutes as she did not feel it appropriate in the current circumstances,” Buckingham Palace said. She’ll also be keeping private any phone and video calls with her family.
The queen has previously stressed the importance of lockdown measures, saying in her Easter message that “by keeping apart we keep others safe.”
United States
Some US governors say they cannot safely end stay at home orders, noting they badly need help from Washington in expanding testing before the orders can be lifted. Then, a day after he gave the governors a road map for recovering from the pandemic’s financial pain and told them they could call the shots, in an unimaginably reckless, irresponsible, dangerous act – Donald Trump appeared to encourage resistance to stay-at-home orders in a series of tweets – “LIBERATE MINNESOTA!” “LIBERATE MICHIGAN!” “LIBERATE VIRGINIA.”
California is on its way to acquiring 15,000 hotel rooms to house the homeless during the pandemic, said Gov. Gavin Newsom on Saturday as he reminded people to stay indoors while outbreaks continue to crop up throughout the state.
Standing in front of a Motel 6 outside the city of San Jose, Newsom said more than 4,000 people have been moved out of shelters and off the streets and into motel rooms. He also asked leaders of cities who are blocking efforts to house the homeless, to “please consider the morality” of their decisions.
His announcement came a day after the state reported another 87 deaths from the coronavirus. Meanwhile, California’s death toll from the virus rose above 1,050 on Saturday, according to a tally by John Hopkins University.
Meanwhile, the accuracy of figures that governments rely on to make crucial decisions – including whether it is safe enough to ease lockdowns – was being openly questioned as many countries, including China, revised up sharply their death tolls.
Australia
The Australian government says it could be the end of the year or even 2021 before borders will open to international travel. Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham said trips abroad won’t be allowed “for quite some time to come.”
“Certainly this time is a good time for a bit of dreaming, a bit of planning, think about that Aussie break that you might take when we do finally get to the other side of this,” Birmingham said promoting home grown tourism.
“There may come a time where at least we can relax some of those travel restrictions within Australia and that will give you a chance to be able to get out perhaps to support some of those regions who at the start of the year were dealing with bushfires, or indeed the many other tourism regions who are struggling at present because of the loss of business.”
“It’s impossible to tell at present precisely when travel restrictions will be removed, because that will be a matter dependent upon the health advice at the time,” Birmingham added.
Birmingham would/could not say when international borders could open but said, “wouldn’t put any guarantees that you could undertake an overseas trip in December.”
South Korea
South Korea’s prime minister says the country will maintain much of its social distancing guidelines until May 5 but will relax some limits. The comments by Chung Sye-kyun came hours after South Korea’s health authorities reported eight more coronavirus cases, the first time a daily increase has dropped to a single digit in about two months.
Chung says the government will stop “strongly advising” religious organizations, gyms and bars to suspend their operations and allow less risky outdoor public facilities, like recreational parks, to be reopened.
He says outdoor sports games also can be held if there are no spectators. He says the government will allow a limited number of essential employment- and license-related examinations to take place if stringent quarantine steps are in place.
Despite a recent continued downward trend, Chung says that “it’s definitely not time to feel relieved.”
While saying South Korea must find ways to revitalize the economy, Chung says the government will toughen its social distancing rules if the danger of a spread of the virus increases again.
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka has partially lifted a monthlong curfew in an effort to restore normal public life disrupted by the spread of the coronavirus. The government lifted the curfew in more than two-thirds of the country Monday. The curfew had been in effect throughout the entire nation since March 20. In the remaining seven districts, including the capital of Colombo, the curfew will stay in effect until Wednesday.
The government’s decision comes as the country’s top health official declared that COVID-19 is “under control” in Sri Lanka.
Despite the curfew being relaxed, schools and cinemas will remain closed until further notice. But state departments, corporations and banks would operate as usual.
Kosovo
About 2,400 Kosovo citizens stranded abroad due to the new coronavirus will begin returning home. A Foreign Ministry statement Saturday said the first two flights from Switzerland and Turkey would be next week.
Kosovo has been in a total lockdown for more than a month. The Kosovar Foreign Ministry selected the first 600 people based on criteria set by the Health Ministry. More citizens will be allowed to return once quarantines are lifted.
Costa cruises
An Italian cruise liner company says a ship with no cases of COVID-19 has reached the western Mediterranean. Costa Crociere says the Costa Deliziosa will disembark 168 Spanish passengers early next week at the port of Barcelona, Spain. Then the Deliziosa will head to its final destination, Genoa, Italy, where it will disembark Italian and other remaining passengers on Wednesday.
A company spokesman says a passenger left the ship this week in Marsala, Sicily, for health issues but not due to the coronavirus.
French authorities had rebuffed a request by Costa for permission to disembark several hundred passengers from France and nearby countries at Marseille’s port.
The ship, sailing around the world when the pandemic erupted, has 1,814 guests and 898 crew members.
Aviation
United Airlines has secured $5 billion from the US government to stave off layoffs, but will almost certainly shrink the workforce when the six-month period guaranteeing no job cuts expires.
It has already started planning for job cuts from October 1, it said in a letter sent to employees. It talked of ‘tough decisions ahead’ as ‘travel demand is essentially zero’ right now. The letter, from CEO Oscar Munoz and president Scott Kirby, put the current situation in perspective.
“Less than 200,000 people flew with us during the first two weeks of April this year, compared to more than 6 million during the same time in 2019, a 97 percent drop.”
It expects to “fly fewer people during the entire month of May than we did on a single day in May 2019. We plan for our airline, and our overall workforce, to be smaller than it is today, starting as early as October 1.”
Demand won’t recover for the summer season and the airline expects it to be ‘suppressed’ for the remainder of 2020.
Spirit Airlines and JetBlue Airways requested exemptions to minimum service rules on some routes. However, the US Department of Transportation has denied all but one of Spirit’s request to curtail service at 26 airports, agreeing to Spirit cutting flights to Aguadilla, Puerto Rico as the FAA has closed the airport.
JetBlue was also granted an exemption to end flights to Aguadilla, as well as Mercedita Ponce International Airport in Puerto Rico.
All Puerto Rico air traffic is now funneled through San Juan International Airport.
However, JetBlue was denied for nine other routes it hoped to suspend.
One of the conditions of receiving federal aid is maintaining a minimum number of domestic routes. The DOT has yet to rule on minimum service exemptions proposed by other airlines, including Delta, United Airlines and American Airlines.