COVID 19: Borders will open to fully vaccinated Americans on Aug. 9; Ottawa reports two new cases - Ottawa Citizen

Canada says it will soon ease border restrictions, thanks to a high vaccination rate, declining case counts and reduced pressure on hospitals.

Author of the article:

Joanne Laucius

A U.S. and a Canadian flag flutter at the Canada-United States border. Photo by Lars Hagberg /Reuters

NEW CORONAVIRUS CASES IN OTTAWA AND ONTARIO

Ontario reported 130 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and no new deaths on Monday, the 11th consecutive day in which COVID cases numbers in the province have remained below 200.

Six new deaths were reported Sunday across the province, with 177 new confirmed cases.

In total, there have been 548,347 confirmed cases and 9,294 deaths in the province since the pandemic began.

As of Monday morning, 115 were in hospital and 151 were in ICU due to COVID-related illness, with 94 in ICU on a respirator.

According to the Ontario figures, Toronto had the most new cases with 18 confirmed cases followed by 17 in Peel Region, 16 in the Waterloo region, 10 in Grey Bruce and 10 in Middlesex-London.

So far, more than 18.2 million doses of vaccine have been administered in Ontario, including 91,320 doses administered as of 8 p.m. on Sunday.

Ottawa Public Health reported only two new cases as of 3 p.m. on Monday, down from five new cases reported on Sunday and seven new cases reported on Saturday.

As of Sunday, there were 25 actives cases in Ottawa and none in hospital or ICU.
In total, there have been 27,743 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa since the pandemic began and 593 deaths.

In the past 30 days, 54 per cent of cases have been caused by a variant of concern. In total, 9,092 cases and 101 deaths have been linked to a variant of concern.

THE LATEST COVID-19 NEWS IN CANADA

Canada says it will soon ease border restrictions, thanks to a high vaccination rate, declining case counts and reduced pressure on hospitals.

Fully vaccinated Americans will be allowed to enter for non-essential travel starting Aug. 9, the federal government announced Monday afternoon.

Then, on Sept. 7, “provided that Canada’s COVID-19 epidemiology remains favourable,” the borders will be opened to fully vaccinated travellers from other countries.

The first phase, beginning in three weeks, will only apply to American “citizens and permanent residents of the United States currently residing in the U.S.”

Canada will “allow entry of unvaccinated children under 12 years of age, or unvaccinated dependent children (due to a mental or physical condition), who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents currently residing in the U.S. and who are accompanying a fully vaccinated parent, step-parent, guardian or tutor,” the government said in a press release.

The government said that “entry to Canada will continue to be prohibited for U.S. travellers who are not fully vaccinated and for all other foreign nationals,” unless they already meet an exemption set out in the orders made under the Quarantine Act.

“To be eligible to enter Canada, fully vaccinated American citizens and permanent residents must have received the full series of a vaccine — or combination of vaccines — accepted by the government of Canada at least 14 days prior to entering Canada.”

These vaccines are approved in Canada: Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca/COVISHIELD, and Janssen (Johnson & Johnson).

The government said fully vaccinated American travellers must:

* Provide COVID-19-related information electronically through ArriveCAN (app or web portal) including proof of vaccination prior to departing for Canada (subject to limited exceptions).
* Meet the pre-entry testing requirements.
* Be asymptomatic upon arrival.
* Have a paper or digital copy of their vaccination documentation ready to show a government official on request.

The federal government Monday also announced that as of Aug. 9, Canada will eliminate quarantine requirements under which travellers arriving by air had to undertake a three-night stay at a government-authorized hotel.

Meanwhile, the federal government is expecting to receive about 7.1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines this week, as it adjusts its distribution strategy amid waning vaccination rates and substantial supply.

The new deliveries will include about 3.1 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and four million doses of Moderna.