Ottawa (DailyExpertNews) — Canada announced it will lift its Covid-19 pre-testing requirement for fully vaccinated travelers from April 1, and said on Thursday the pandemic was entering a “transition phase”.
The requirement is deleted for air, land and water ports of entry.
However, the announcement came with a warning that travel restrictions may need to be reset.
“As the weather warms and people spend more time outside, we can expect a decline in transmission in the coming months, but we need to be prepared for a decline in collective and individual immunity,” said Canadian minister Jean-Yves Duclos. of Public Health. , during a press conference Thursday.
Duclos added in a statement that fully vaccinated travelers can still be randomly selected to take a test upon entry into Canada, but no longer have to go into quarantine pending their results.
Unvaccinated and partially vaccinated travelers eligible to enter Canada will still be required to take a Covid-19 molecular test on arrival and on Day 8. They will still have to quarantine for 14 days.
While Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Wednesday Canadians are “damn tired” of the pandemic after two years of restrictions, health officials were cautious, saying the virus would “stay with us for a very long time”.
Health Canada says over 80% of Canadians are now fully vaccinated. Canada now reports more than 37,000 deaths from Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic.
In the week of March 7, Health Canada reported that hospital admissions continued to decline, as did ICU admissions.
Top image: Toronto Pearson International Airport on April 1, 2020 in Toronto, Canada. (Cole Burston/Getty Images)