Travelers may now enter Canada with an antigen test, and unvaccinated children will no longer be required to quarantine.
With a pre-arrival antigen test, fully vaccinated visitors will be permitted to enter Canada. Children who have not been vaccinated will no longer be required to stay in isolation for 14 days. Starting February 28, domestic and international flights to all Canadian airports will be resumed.
Furthermore, if fully vaccinated passengers are chosen randomly for an on-arrival test, they won’t have to stay in quarantine while waiting for findings.
The nation from which the travelers are coming must authorize the pre-arrival antigen test and taken no later than 24 hours prior to crossing the border or their imminent flight. It is not enough to take a quick antigen test at home to fulfill the pre-entry criteria .A laboratory, healthcare organization, or telemedicine provider must administer the test. Within 72 hours after arrival, travelers can still take a PCR test. The previous guidelines for molecular testing remained intact.
Travelers will still need to use the ArriveCAN app to upload their documentation before crossing the border.
Non-vaccinated travelers must be inspected upon arrival and held in quarantine for 14 days. On the eighth day of their confinement, they will have to take a test.
Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos made the announcement on February 15 in Ottawa, Canada’s capital Transport, public safety, tourism, and intergovernmental relations ministries accompanied him.
International flights to all Canadian airports will resume by the end of the month, according to Minister of Transportation Omar Alghabra. According to a press statement, the warning to airmen restricting overseas flights will be lifted at 4 p.m. Eastern Time.
The level of Canada’s travel tips will be reduced from level 3 to level 2. This implies that the government will no longer advise Canadians to avoid travel unless it is absolutely necessary. Despite this, the minister advised Canadians to be aware of the dangers of overseas travel during the epidemic.
These measures, according to Duclos, are temporary and may be changed when the COVID-19 situation changes. Further restrictions would be removed, he anticipated, if hospitalization rates reduce in the near future.
Border controls are expected to be reduced.
The health minister hinted at progress last week, and Canada’s chief public health officer, The government is looking for more long-term solutions to COVID-19 control, according to Dr. Theresa Tam.
All travelers to Canada, with a few exceptions, must be adequately vaccinated. Quarantine is required for travelers who have not been immunized. Travelers who have been vaccinated must take a COVID-19 PCR test at least 72 hours before crossing the border, and they may be subjected to an on-arrival random test.
Last week, Duclos stated that the worst of the Omicron wave had gone across Canada, and that the government will continue to increase safeguards as needed.
Tam acknowledged that Canada’s travel advisory for foreign travel is being reviewed.
In the meanwhile, provincial administrations are deleting COVID-19 legislation and removing the requirement for vaccination passports. Manitoba hopes to be free of COVID-19 restrictions by mid-March. The province of Ontario has hastened the adoption of lax public health policies. All three provinces, Quebec, Alberta, and Saskatchewan, have said that they wish to ease laws.
Health experts and the tourist sector have pressed Canada to remove the COVID-19 test requirement in recent weeks.
The World Health Organization (WHO) advised last month that governments eliminate international travel prohibitions because they “do not bring value” and cause economic and social burden. Border controls are ineffectual against the extremely infectious Omicron strain, as seen by its spread. Travel precautions such as masking, testing, quarantine, and immunization, according to WHO, should be based on risk assessment and should not put a financial burden on foreign travelers. Given the restricted worldwide availability and inequitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccinations, WHO also stated that governments should not require proof of immunization against COVID-19 as the only requirement for foreign travel
