Canada to extend ban on passenger flights from India by another month: Report
- Meanwhile, the Canadian government announced a loosening of Covid-19 travel restrictions for fully vaccinated people amid warnings that a return to a completely open border will take a while longer
Canada is expected to extend the suspension of passenger flights from India by another month. The announcement in this regard will be made later today by Canadian officials, according to a Hindustan Times report.
Earlier in April, Canada decided to ban all flights from India for 30 days due to the growing number of Covid-19 cases in the country.
The suspension was extended by another 30 days on 21 May and now another extension will be imposed for 30 days.
According to the report, the move was originally precipitated by increasing pressure upon the government of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to act on this matter after several cases of the Delta variant of Covid-19, first detected in India, were reported in Canada.
Meanwhile, the Canadian government announced a loosening of Covid-19 travel restrictions for fully vaccinated people amid warnings that a return to a completely open border will take a while longer.
Fully vaccinated Canadians and residents will exempt from the mandatory three-day hotel stay as well as a 14-day quarantine requirement on arrival to the country, Justin Trudeau’s government said in a statement on Monday. Travelers will still need to have tested negative for Covid-19 before their trip, and take a second test at the border.
And Canadians who can show proof of having received two doses of an approved vaccine -- Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca or Johnson & Johnson -- at least 14 days prior to arrival must still get pre- and on-arrival tests, be asymptomatic, and have a suitable quarantine plan.
They will, however, not be required to stay for up to three days at a government authorized hotel at their own expense while they await their on-arrival test result, nor have to test again after eight days.
The move -- effective 5 July -- is a first, incremental step to ease restrictions amid mounting impatience for the government to reopen the border between the U.S. and Canada. A fuller reopening won’t happen until 75% of Canadians are fully vaccinated, Canada’s border chief said on Sunday.
The world’s longest undefended border has been closed to most travel since March last year. On Friday, the government extended the restrictions until at least 21 July.
“We haven’t reached the finish line, and the finish line is when a significant majority of Canadians, approximately 75%, are fully vaccinated," Public Safety Minister Bill Blair told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. on Sunday. At present, less than a fifth of Canadians have received two shots, according to data compiled by CTV News.
The border restrictions have kept families apart, blocked tourists and students, and hampered the world’s largest bilateral trading relationship. While trucks and trains continued to move goods, Canada’s tourism and travel-related businesses lost an estimated C$20 billion ($16 billion) in revenue last year, according to one estimate.
Canada prioritised giving first doses to as many people as possible before moving on to second doses amid a shortage in vaccine supplies. As a result, some 66% of Canadians have received one shot, but only 18% have had two. By contrast, about 45% of Americans have had two doses.
With agency inputs
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First Published:21 Jun 2021, 09:02 PM IST
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