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With eye on Delta cases, Canada allows only fully vaccinated inbound travellers
The decision came even as more than 4,600 coronavirus cases linked to the highly infectious Delta variant have been reported in the North American country so far
As Canada has decided to gradually open up to international travel, the country has also seen an uptick in the number of Covid-19 cases related to the highly infectious Delta variant over the last few weeks.
More than 4,600 cases related to the Delta variant of the coronavirus have been reported in Canada so far and its spread is being watched carefully by the country’s health authorities.
However, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said the government was proceeding on a “step-by-step” basis and the “next step will be looking at measures that can allow for international travellers who are fully vaccinated. That will be our first focus”.
Non-essential travel to Canada has been prohibited since March last year, when the Covid-19 pandemic first took hold in the country and across the world. “We are going to make sure we are moving forward on that in the coming weeks,” Trudeau said on easing restrictions on non-essential travel.
However, such a move will not apply to those who are not vaccinated against the disease. “That’s not going to happen for quite a while,” the Canadian PM clarified.
Canada announced easing of restrictions for citizens and permanent residents that came into effect on July 5.
The requirement of isolating at a government-approved hotel for three days while results of a Covid-19 test on arrival are available was dropped for fully vaccinated individuals that qualified for the exemption.
The categories of travellers benefitting from the relaxation in rules included citizens, permanent residents, their immediate and extended family members, international students with a valid study permit at a designated learning institution with a Covid-19 readiness plan approved by its province or territory, and temporary workers with valid work permits.
The move also applied to those vaccinated with a jab approved for emergency use authorisation by Health Canada.
Health Canada has so far approved the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Astra Zeneca/Covishield, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines.
While Covishield, the Indian version of the AZ vaccine manufactured by the Pune-based Serum Institute of India, is accepted in Canada, Indian-made Covaxin and Russian-made Sputnik V are not.
The Pennsylvania-based firm Ocugen has partnered with Bharat Biotech to make Covaxin available in North America, and has entered into discussions with Health Canada for regulatory approval. The vaccine has yet to receive emergency use authorisation.
Restrictions remain in place for those not fully vaccinated or vaccinated with a jab not authorised in Canada. Such travellers have to complete the three-day quarantine at a government-approved hotel while awaiting results of their tests, submit to a second test on day eight of their arrival, and complete the full 14-day period of self-isolation.
Travellers arriving in Canada still have to provide a negative molecular test result taken within 72 hours prior to departure.
RISE IN DELTA VARIANT CASES
Canada’s chief public health officer Dr Theresa Tam said there were 4,654 cases caused by the Delta variant, which was first detected in India.
Tam released these numbers during the course of a briefing on Thursday during which she also said that this was a variant health authorities were “keeping track of quite closely”.
This was the first time that Canadian health authorities have given a composite count of the number of cases linked to the Delta variant.
The agency Canadian Press had reported three weeks earlier that there were approximately 2,000 cases of the variant in the country. That would mean the caseload connected to this particular variant has more than doubled in the space of 21 days.
Delta was upgraded to a variant of concern (VOC) by Canadian health authorities in mid-May as it caused a severe crisis in India.
There are four VOCs listed by the Canadian government, of which Alpha has been linked to 225,287, Beta to 2,298 and Gamma to 18,957 cases.
In a statement released on Thursday, Tam said “recent evidence shows that all Covid-19 vaccines in use in Canada provide substantial protection against symptomatic illness and severe outcomes caused by variants of concern, with excellent protection after the second dose”.
The emergence of the Delta variant also led to the imposition of a ban of direct flights from India on April 22. That suspension remains in place, after it was renewed twice despite the total cases in India falling considerably over recent weeks.
Prior to the flight ban, both Air Canada and Air India were operating almost daily flights between the Canadian cities of Toronto and Vancouver and New Delhi in an air corridor arrangement that came into place last summer.
Passengers from India who arrive via an indirect route, through a third country, will have to provide a pre-departure negative coronavirus test result from the last port before continuing their journey.
Tam also addressed the issue of the Lambda variant, which originated in Peru and said there were 11 cases reported so far in Canada and it is considered a variant of interest.
