Canada should end mandatory COVID-19 hotel quarantine for travellers: expert panel

Canada’s current requirement for all incoming air travellers to quarantine in hotels for up to three days should be discontinued, a COVID-19 expert advisory panel recommended.

The panel included the recommendations in its updated border report Thursday, proposing several changes to the country’s existing border mandates.

Among the recommendations, was the discontinuation of a mandatory hotel quarantine in “government-authorized accommodations” for all air travellers coming in to Canada. The panel also made several recommendations based on the vaccination status of travellers.

Travellers who are fully vaccinated should no longer need to take a pre-departure test or undergo the mandatory 14-day quarantine. They would also be exempt from the earlier recommended COVID-19 test taken seven days after arrival, the panel recommended.

2:08
Hotels in Canada gouging incoming international arrivals, some travellers say

Partially-vaccinated travellers would still need to take pre-departure tests within 72 hours of their flight, and another test within 24 hours of arriving. Those testing negative on their arrival test would be allowed to leave quarantine. Unvaccinated travellers, according to the panel, should still have to undergo the same testing methods as partially-vaccinated travellers, but would have to quarantine for seven days until they receive a negative test result.

Canada should also continue to screen international travellers for more transmissible variants, the report recommended, but advised against country-tailored restrictions due loopholes and the wide transmission of the virus.

More to come…

— With files from The Canadian Press