Canadian PM Justin Trudeau announces mandatory hotel quarantine for travellers

Canadian
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau declared mandatory quarantine for arrivals to
Canada on Friday. He said the travellers have to quarantine in hotels at their
own expense whereas Canadian airlines are also cancelling flights to southern
destinations, further increasing COVID-19 measures to reduce the spread of
virus, reported AFP.

Trudeau
told a news conference that arrivals have to quarantine themselves for up to
three days under firm supervision, which he estimated will cost
Can$2,000 (US$1,600). He said, “Now
is just not the time to be flying.”

Also read: Common drug colchicine brings hope to fight with COVID-19: Canadian research

The country’s airlines have accepted to suspend flights to Mexico,
Caribbean and other destinations till April end. On the other hand, Ottawa is also increasing its
COVID-19 testing.

The PM’s announcement of tougher measures came in the wake of public
health official’s increasing concerns about the spread of more transmissible
COVID-19 variants along with the Canadians going for foreign trips this winder.

However, in earlier weeks, Trudeau has been requesting his
countrymen to drop their travel plans, hinting that a crackdown was coming. He
said, “By putting in place these tough measures now, we can look
forward to a better time when we can all plan those vacations.”

Also read: Justin Trudeau co-opts Sanders meme to urge Canadians from travelling

From upcoming week, all arrival flights to the country will
be ordered to land at one of only four airports, in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary
and Montreal. Along with this, travellers will be provided compulsory PCR
testing upon arrival with the already available pre-boarding testing.

Then they will have to wait for those results at assigned hotels. If
their test comes back negative, they’ll be allowed to complete their complete
14-day quarantine at home under significantly increased surveillance and enforcement
while those with positive tests will be moved to a government quarantine
facility, mentioned Trudeau.

Also read: Canada extends international traveller ban by a month

Air Canada, WestJet, Sunwing and Air Transat have committed to stopping
flights to all Caribbean destinations and Mexico beginning from Sunday while
the country’s two largest airlines Air Canada and WestJet told that they were stopping
flights to up to 15 destinations in these countries for 90 days. However, Air
Transat has already closed its operations, reported AFP.

Canada has reported more than 769,000 COVID-19 cases and 19,000 deaths till
date.