Canada saw 137 COVID-infected flights in first week of August
Transportation and Health ministers duck questions on why current measures aren't halting steep rise in infected travellers
Author of the article:Bryan Passifiume
Publishing date:Aug 10, 2021 • 6 hours ago • 2 minute read • 24 Comments
A passenger is covered head to toe at the International Arrivals area at Terminal 3 at Toronto Pearson International Airport on Tuesday, January 26, 2021.
A passenger covered head to toe at the International Arrivals area at Terminal 3 at Toronto Pearson International Airport on Tuesday, January 26, 2021. PHOTO BY ERNEST DOROSZUK /Toronto Sun
Article content
More international flights carrying COVID-19 infected passengers landed in the first seven days of August than the entire month of May, according to numbers released by Health Canada.
Advertisement
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Article content
And Canada’s health and transportation ministers on Tuesday evaded questions on why current measures aren’t preventing an evident upward trend in infected international travellers.
Between Aug. 1-7, 137 international flights landed carrying passengers who tested positive for COVID-19. Canada recorded 130 such flights in the entire month of May.
This comes after Canada recorded its highest-ever month for infected international arrivals, with the Toronto Sun recording 500 flights landing in July.
That beats April’s previous record of 287 — including 66 flights from India, currently under a passenger flight ban enacted by Transport Canada on April 21.
Since the beginning of this year, passengers must present a recent negative COVID-19 test before boarding Canada-bound flights, and as of April, travellers from India must have a negative test taken in a third country while en route to Canada.
Advertisement
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Article content
The United States was Canada’s biggest source of infected passengers during the first week of August, with 46 of last week’s 137 flights originating there.
Fifteen came from Casablanca, about half of July’s total for that city.
The Toronto Sun sent inquires to Health Minister Patty Hajdu and Transportation Minister Omar Alghabra, asking why the system is permitting such a dramatic increase, and if the current order banning direct passenger flights from India will be expanded to include new hotspots.
A statement from Alghabra’s office answered neither question, but reiterated his ministry’s focus on protecting health through evidence and science-based policy, and repeated an often-used claim that Canada has some of the strongest border measures in the world.
Advertisement
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Article content
“Thanks to our strong measures, including banning direct flights from hotspots like India and Pakistan, a mandatory 14-day quarantine, and mandatory COVID tests, air travel was down 95%, and less than 1% of COVID-19 transmission was travel-related,” said the statement.
Nobody in government has been able to explain why Pakistan was added, and then subsequently removed, from the flight ban, when Health Canada’s own numbers showed it wasn’t a significant source — only five infected flights originated in Pakistan last month.
Inquires to Hajdu’s office went unacknowledged.
MORE ON THIS TOPIC
Arrivals board at Toronto Pearson International Airport
Transport Canada extends India flight ban to Sept. 21
The arrivals lineup in Terminal One at Toronto's Pearson International Airport, Feb. 22, 2021.
Passengers left on planes, sometimes for hours, due to Pearson COVID capacity limits
The flight arrival lineup at Toronto's Pearson International Airport located in Terminal One on Feb. 22, 2021.
July highest-ever month for COVID-infected international flights to Canada
bpassifiume@postmedia.com
On Twitter: @bryanpassifiume
TOP SOURCES OF COVID-19 INFECTED INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS, AUG. 1-7
(July’s total in parenthesis)
United States, 46 (156)
Casablanca, 15 (32)
Amsterdam, 11 (34)
Frankfurt, 8 (26)
Paris, 8 (36)
London, 6 (18)
Istanbul, 6 (26)
Doha, 5 (25)
Transportation and Health ministers duck questions on why current measures aren't halting steep rise in infected travellers
torontosun.com