More than five million arrivals into Canada have been allowed to skip the 14-day quarantine requirement put in place when the country closed its borders to non-essential travel in late March, the Canada Border Services Agency estimates.
The data — which was compiled by the CBSA at the request of CBC News — shows that more than 80 per cent of the 6.5 million total arrivals into Canada between March 31 and Nov. 12 were exempt from the quarantine meant to battle the COVID-19 pandemic.
The arrival numbers include repeat entries by the same person.
The federal government exempts travellers from quarantine when they’re providing services deemed “essential.” Those exempt include flight crew and emergency response workers, as well as truck drivers who cross the border multiple times.
Truck drivers alone accounted for close to half of the total entries into Canada.
5.3 million exemptions is best guess
The CBSA calculated a total of 5.3 million quarantine-exempt entries, but said the number is only an estimate because the federal government didn’t start to track everyone in that group until July 31.
The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) said that before July 31 the CBSA collected data on quarantine-exempt travellers crossing the border for statistical purposes, but only when it had the “operational capacity” to do so.
Starting on July 31, PHAC changed its policy and mandated that everyone in that group be tracked, so their contact information could be collected for enforcement purposes.
“Individuals with an exemption from federal quarantine must continue to meet the public health measures in place,” spokesperson Tammy Jarbeau said in an email.
Those measures include wearing a mask, social distancing and rules laid out by local health authorities.
Epidemiologist Colin Furness said that, ideally, the government should have tracked all quarantine-exempt travellers since the start of the border closure in late March.
“I don’t think we needed to have COVID on our shores before thinking about how do we manage our borders,” said Furness, an infection control epidemiologist and professor at the University of Toronto. “There’s just a lack of imagination and a lack of preparation.”
Vehicles cross the Peace Bridge into Canada last March in Buffalo, N.Y. The Canada-U.S. border has been closed to non-essential traffic in both directions since then due to the pandemic. (Jeffrey T. Barnes/The Associated Press)
PHAC didn’t explain why it waited four months into the border closure before it started collecting contact information for quarantine-exempt travellers.
The agency has collected contact information for the travellers required to quarantine, for enforcement purposes, since March 31. They include Canadians vacationing abroad and foreigners visiting immediate family in Canada.
Over the past seven months, the percentage of COVID-19 cases linked to international travel has ranged from 0.4 per cent in May to 2.9 per cent in July, according to PHAC.
Over the past two weeks, 47 international flights entering Canada were found to have had at least one confirmed COVID-19 case onboard.
Exemptions ‘critical to our economy’
Jarbeau said the large number of people exempt from quarantine is necessary so that workers “critical to our economy and infrastructure” can do their job after crossing the border.
She said only those essential workers who declare they have no COVID-19 symptoms are allowed to skip quarantine.
Infection control epidemiologist Colin Furness said that, ideally, Canada should have started tracking all quarantine-exempt travellers since the start of the border closure in late March. (Dale Molnar/CBC)
Furness said he understands why essential workers are exempt from quarantine, but takes issue with certain cases, such as business executives who get to bypass the requirement.
The federal government said two of those exemptions were a mistake and vowed to fix the problem. It declined to comment on a third case involving the president of U.S. operations for global shipping giant UPS, citing the federal Privacy Act.
“It’s unacceptable,” said Furness. “I don’t understand why we need business travel at all. We’ve got Zoom. We’ve got the internet.”
Testing pilot project
Epidemiologist Raywat Deonandan said it takes just one infected traveller to spark an outbreak.
“It’s possible that a traveller could show up, attend like a church or something and then be the trigger for a superspreading event,” said Deonandan, a professor at the University of Ottawa.
Both he and Furness suggest that routine COVID-19 testing of essential workers crossing the border would help mitigate potential risks. Testing is not currently a requirement for any traveller entering Canada.
“If we catch some positives that way and prevent somebody from becoming a spreader, that’d be great,” said Deonandan.
PHAC said it’s currently exploring the concept as part of a pilot project offering COVID-19 tests to travellers at two designated border crossings in Alberta.
The agency said that travellers who must quarantine and those who are exempt are both being offered tests. Essential workers who cross the border on a regular basis, such as truck drivers, will be offered a test every three to four weeks.
Tim Houston, who is seeking a second term as Nova Scotia premier, said he had no plans to invite Poilievre to join him on the campaign ahead of the Nov. 26 provincial election. He explained the provincial Progressive Conservatives have no formal ties with the Tories in Ottawa — and he made a point of saying he is not a member of the federal party. Experts say it also is because the latest polls suggest Atlantic Canadians have not warmed to Poilievre. (Nov. 5, 2024)
CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) — It has been a rough few days for Clemson coach Dabo Swinney. First, his 19th-ranked Tigers lost to Louisville on Saturday night, then he was told he couldn’t vote Tuesday at his polling place.
Swinney, whose given name is William, explained that the voting system had locked him out, saying a “William Swinney” had already voted last week. Swinney said it was his oldest son, Will, and not him.
“They done voted me out of the state,” Swinney said. “We’re 6-2 and 5-1 (in the Atlantic Coast Conference), man. They done shipped me off.”
Dabo Swinney had to complete a paper ballot and was told there will be a hearing on Friday to resolve the issue.
“I was trying to do my best and be a good citizen and go vote,” he said. “Sometimes doing your best ain’t good enough. You have to keep going though, keep figuring it out.”
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EDMONTON – The judge leading a fatality inquiry into the knockout death of a boxer is recommending changes to how the sport is regulated and how head injuries are monitored.
Timothy Hague, who was 34, competed in a boxing match licensed by the Edmonton Combative Sports Commission in June 2017 when his opponent, Adam Braidwood, knocked him unconscious.
Hague came to and was able to walk to the dressing room, where he vomited, and was then taken to hospital where he underwent surgery for a large brain bleed.
His condition did not improve, care was withdrawn and Hague died two days after the fight.
Justice Carrie Sharpe with Alberta’s provincial court made 14 recommendations, including that combat sports be overseen by a provincial authority instead of a patchwork of municipal bodies and that there be concussion spotters at every event.
She also recommends that if a fighter receives a blow to the head in a technical knockout, they must provide a brain scan to prove they are fit to compete again.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.
