Canadian citizens and permanent residents will be subjected to stringent quarantine measures for at least a month from now.
Canada has once again released emergency orders that once again put the restrictions on international travel in place.
For anyone entering the country, 14-day quarantine is made mandatory in the wake of a spike in coronavirus cases in the country.
The orders will be extended for at least a month from now.
Public Safety Minister, Bill Blair in his tweet on Friday afternoon announced that international travel restrictions will be extended till September 30 to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Our government is extending the existing restrictions on international travel to Canada by one month – until September 30, 2020 – to limit the introduction and spread of COVID-19 in our communities. (1/2)
— Bill Blair (@BillBlair) August 28, 2020
The ongoing restrictions prohibit all non-essential and discretionary travel to Canada from countries other than the United States.
This includes leisure travel like vacations, entertainment travel, and other unimportant forms of travel for non-Canadian citizens as well as permanent residents.
Canadians who choose to travel abroad including to the US will have to self isolate upon their return.
However, essential workers including health care workers, airline crews, and commercial truck drivers will be exempted from the self isolation rule upon return to Canada.
Some immediate family members of Canadian citizens and permanent residents of the country will be allowed to travel into the country by air if exempt.
Friday’s announcement by Bill Blair does not alter the Canada-US land border restrictions which will remain closed for all non-essential travel until September 21.
International air travel increased
Despite the ongoing travel restrictions, the number of international travelers arriving into Canada has increased significantly when compared to the start of the pandemic.
As per certain reports, the number of international passengers arriving at Canadian airports has increased roughly from 15,000 in April to 45,000 in a week by early July.
The recent statistics provided by the Canada Border Service Agency show that more than 60,000 passengers have entered various Canadian airports each week in the month of August 2020.
This includes travelers coming from the United States.
Epidemiologists and specialists of Canada are expressing concern over the rise in number of international passengers arriving in Canada. They believe that the Canadian government has not done enough to limit the number of passengers from other countries and was not able to control nonessential travel.
The government meanwhile says that it is up to the individuals to decide what the non-essential travel means based on their family and business requirements and other factors.
Mike McNaney, the President of National Airlines Council of Canada says that Canada should begin taking a risk-based approach to reopening the border rather than imposing a complete ban on international travel.
Canada has a total of 127,288 confirmed coronavirus cases and about 9000 people have succumbed to the deadly virus in the country.
By Gayatri Yellayi
