By Barry Ellsworth
TRENTON, Canada (AA) – Canada announced new air travel measures Friday, including a COVID-19 test when passengers land and a $2,000 charge to stay in an approved hotel for up to three days while awaiting test results.
Those with negative tests will quarantine for 14 days at home with increased surveillance, while positive tests will result in quarantining in government facilities.
The new restrictions, announced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during an address to Canadians, Friday, will be instituted as soon as possible. They are aimed at curbing international travel, particularly since the onslaught of more contagious virus variants globally, Trudeau said.
Virus cases continue to doggedly stalk the country, particularly in the most densely populated provinces of Ontario and Quebec. As of Friday, there were 772,441 cases in Canada, with 19,739 deaths.
As well, the four major Canadian airlines have agreed to suspend all flights to the Caribbean and Mexico as of Jan. 31 until April 30. The airlines are now making arrangements to get their customers back to Canada from those areas.
“We are taking this situation extremely seriously,” Trudeau said. “With the challenges we currently face with COVID-19, both here at home and abroad, we all agree that now is just not the time to be flying.”
And while no date was announced, Trudeau said non-essential travelers will soon have to demonstrate a negative test before crossing into Canada from the United States.
“We are working to stand up additional testing requirements for land travel,” he said.
Remaining in place will be the requirement for most travelers to show a negative coronavirus test before arriving in Canada.