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Canada stops passenger flights from India amid rising Covid-19 cases
The move was precipitated by increasing pressure on the government to act after several cases of the B1617 double mutant originating in India were reported in Canada
Canada prohibited all commercial and private passenger flights from India for 30 days starting Thursday night, hours after the UAE, Australia, and Oman on Thursday joined the list of countries to impose travel restrictions on the country. The UK, France, Hong Kong, the US, Singapore, and New Zealand earlier announced similar measures and either completely barred or restricted flights from India amid a record surge in daily Covid-19 infections.
The Canadian move was precipitated by increasing pressure on the government to act after several cases of the double mutant originating in India were reported in Canada. There were also demands from provincial governments to ban flights from India at the earliest. Canada informed New Delhi of the decision prior to making the announcement, people aware of the matter said.
Flights from India were barred along with that from Pakistan. Transport Canada, the ministry responsible for aviation, issued a notice to airmen saying: “...suspend all commercial and private passenger flights from India and Pakistan for 30 days, effective 23:30 EDT April 22, 2021.”
In a statement, Transport Canada said these measures will help manage the elevated risk of imported cases of Covid-19 and variants of concern into Canada during a time of increasing pressure on the country’s health care.
Passengers from India, who arrive through a third country, will have to provide a pre-departure negative coronavirus test result from the last port before continuing their journey.
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The Canadian announcement came hours after the UAE announced the temporary suspension of all flights from India and the entry of transit passengers for 10 days from April 25. People, who transited through India in the past 14 days, will also be barred from entering the UAE. The travel ban will be reviewed after 10 days.
Singapore on Thursday further tightened restrictions for travellers from India. On Wednesday, Oman barred the entry of travellers from India. Australia has temporarily reduced the number of flights from India by 30%.
Canada’s health minister Patty Hadju said, “Throughout this pandemic, we have adapted our response to emerging science with one goal in mind: protecting Canadians. This is what we are doing again today. We have established some of the strongest border measures in the world, to test, screen, and quarantine incoming travellers.”
Earlier, during the course of briefing linked to this announcement, she pointed out that while passengers from India accounted for about 20% of those traveling into Canada, they comprise nearly 50% of positive tests on arrival.
Till now, Canada has had a system wherein passengers flying in have to have a negative RT-PCR test prior to departure and are tested again on arrival and have to quarantine in a designated hotel till the results of tests are available. They also have to self-isolate for two weeks from the time of arrival.
Bill Blair, the minister of public safety and emergency preparedness, said, “These new measures complement those we already have in place and will play a critical role in controlling COVID-19 and variants of concern.”
