Travellers at Calgary airport have mixed reactions to return of random COVID-19 testing
Travellers at Calgary airport have mixed reactions to return of random COVID-19 testing
Random COVID-19 testing for inbound air travellers has resumed at the Calgary International Airport as well as three other Canadian airports.
The move adds another bump to Kristie Barlow’s travel plans.
"It adds a little more stress to the travel. Already having to travel internationally adds a lot of paperwork, especially when you’re travelling with kids and dependents," Barlow said.
Random testing was paused just last month in order to help ease delays at airports.
However, as of Tuesday, airports in Calgary, Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal are resuming the measure.
This time around, tests will be conducted offsite at select testing locations or through virtual appointments and self-swab tests.
The ArriveCAN app will make the random selections and travellers will receive an email within 15 minutes of filling out their customs declaration.
"To have that looming is just a little more stress and makes me not want to travel as much," Barlow said.
Isolation requirements are adding to the confusion.
If a vaccinated person tests positive during a random test, the federal government requires them to isolate for 10 days, regardless of the province they live in.
In Alberta, there are no quarantine requirements, just recommendations that people isolate for five days.
The Public Health Agency of Canada says it will follow up with people who are selected. Travellers who don’t comply could be issued warnings or even fines.
"Whether it’s random testing or testing in general, I’m completely against it. I feel it’s an infringement on our freedom," said international traveller Nicola Straub.
About four or five per cent of travellers coming into Canada will be selected for random testing, according to Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos’ office.
"If there’s data that says that it’s actually keeping people safer, then go for it and if there’s no data, then it’s probably unnecessary," said Sean McGarry, who flew to Calgary from Chicago after visiting family.
The federal government says the random testing will help them track and monitor COVID-19 trends and new variants entering the country.
Infectious disease specialist Dr. Isaac Bogoch agrees that the data from these tests can be useful, but wants more transparency with how the data is being used.
"How are you using this information to create a safer environment for Canadians? What are the actionable outcomes of this data? And I think that would be really helpful to know," Bogoch told CTV’s Your Morning on Tuesday.
He adds that there are other ways to collect similar data.
"We can do wastewater sampling on airplanes, we can look at positive cases here in Canada and collect greater information on those who turned positive by doing surveys on them."
Random testing only applies to vaccinated travellers.
Those who are unvaccinated are still required to quarantine for 14 days, taking a COVID-19 test on days one and eight of their isolation.
Exposure to synthetic ‘forever chemicals’ often polluting the environment has been linked to the most common type of liver cancer, according to a recent study.
An Ontario nurse is facing charges in connection with the alleged assault of a two-year-old boy with “significant medical limitations” in Niagara Region.
Ontario MP Pierre Poilievre remains the heavy favourite to be the next Conservative party leader but he trails opponent Jean Charest for support among Canadians as a whole.
With inflation rising at its fastest pace in nearly 40 years, the cost of everything from food to gas has skyrocketed. Canadians across the country are feeling squeezed, but big families with multiple children are at times shouldering much of the higher costs — and changing demographics and consumer patterns have left some of them more exposed to inflation than in previous generations.
A new study found that people with regular menstruation cycles and those who typically do not menstruate either experienced a heavier flow or breakthrough bleeding after being vaccinated against COVID-19.
At the age of 13, Wyatt Sharpe has interviewed the prime minister, a premier, party leaders and cabinet ministers -- and he's not even in high school yet.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump will be questioned under oath Wednesday in the New York attorney general's long-running civil investigation into his dealings as a real estate mogul, he confirmed in a post on his Truth Social account.
The ingredients in a 2,300-year-old ancient Chinese chemistry formula have finally been identified, revealing new secrets about metallurgy in ancient China.
If Edmonton does go ahead with a new gondola over the North Saskatchewan River, a local businessman has a grand idea for what to surround it with on the southern edge of the valley.
Six of the seven United Conservative Party candidates vying for the party's leadership will discuss education spending, policy and the future of teaching in Alberta with teachers from across the province Wednesday afternoon.
Patients and doctors alike are feeling the effects of a turbulent health-care system, where clinic closures have B.C.'s physicians weighing their options as their orphaned patients plead to be seen by a shrinking number of general practitioners.
Several police officers were allegedly assaulted Tuesday in the Downtown Eastside, amid heightened tensions in the neighbourhood as crews were dismantling a tent city.
A state of emergency remains in place in central Newfoundland due to out-of-control forest fires, but a major highway that had been closed for days has been reopened, allowing supplies to be delivered to stranded communities.
With less than a month to go before kids are back in school, Vancouver Island families are preparing for September. But, the price of school supplies and clothes this year is going up.
Five unions representing more than 5,000 UVic staff have reignited a petition asking the university to reconsider a planned change from annual to monthly parking passes.
Ontario is set to introduce legislation today to give large municipal leaders so-called strong mayor powers as a way to get housing built more quickly.
The Progressive Conservative government has said that recipients of the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) will start receiving their five per cent increases in September.
Tenants living at the Mont-Carmel seniors' residence say they're concerned their landlord is not obeying a court ruling that states the building must primarily house people of a certain age.
Major health care unions in Quebec are claiming victory following a ruling that states the Health Ministry 'negotiated in bad faith' when offering bonuses to employees without consulting union representatives during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Three incumbent Ottawa city councillors are just over a week away from another term at city hall, even though the election isn't for another two and a half months.
Ontario is set to introduce legislation today to give large municipal leaders so-called strong mayor powers as a way to get housing built more quickly.
St. Mary’s General Hospital in Kitchener has added a touchscreen self-check-in kiosk into its emergency department. in hopes of streamlining patients through the triage system.
One lane of Highway 144 has reopened between the Greater Sudbury communities of Lively and Chelmsford d after a head-on crash between a transport and a pickup truck early Wednesday morning.
A new study found that people with regular menstruation cycles and those who typically do not menstruate either experienced a heavier flow or breakthrough bleeding after being vaccinated against COVID-19.
Ontario MP Pierre Poilievre remains the heavy favourite to be the next Conservative party leader but he trails opponent Jean Charest for support among Canadians as a whole.
