{"id":250365,"date":"2020-03-28T23:07:21","date_gmt":"2020-03-29T03:07:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=250365"},"modified":"2020-03-28T23:07:21","modified_gmt":"2020-03-29T03:07:21","slug":"trudeau-says-air-train-travel-to-be-denied-for-anyone-with-covid-19-symptoms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/03\/28\/trudeau-says-air-train-travel-to-be-denied-for-anyone-with-covid-19-symptoms\/","title":{"rendered":"Trudeau says air, train travel to be denied for anyone with COVID-19 symptoms"},"content":{"rendered":"
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While most Canadians are heeding the advice of government and public health officials asking them to stay home and not travel, especially if they are feeling ill, additional measures are needed to stop the spread of the virus within Canada, Trudeau said. (File photo<\/a>: Justin Trudeau\/Facebook<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

OTTAWA \u2014 Beginning at noon Monday, anyone in Canada showing symptoms related to COVID-19 will be barred from boarding domestic flights and trains, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Saturday.<\/p>\n

While most Canadians are heeding the advice of government and public health officials asking them to stay home and not travel, especially if they are feeling ill, additional measures are needed to stop the spread of the virus within Canada, Trudeau said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are giving further tools to airlines and rail companies to ensure that anyone exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms does not travel,\u201d he said from outside his home at Rideau Cottage.<\/p>\n

Under the Transport Canada interim order, air operators and intercity passenger rail companies will be required to do a health check of all passengers to screen for symptoms. Company representatives will ask simple health questions, look for visible signs of illness prior to boarding and recommend that passengers follow guidance from local health authorities.<\/p>\n

Companies will be required to bar anyone showing symptoms of the virus from boarding trains and planes, and this denial will remain in effect for 14 days or until a medical certificate is presented that confirms the traveller’s symptoms are not related to COVID-19.<\/p>\n

These measures will not apply to buses or commuter trains, as they are not federally regulated.<\/p>\n

Canada’s deputy chief public health officer Dr. Howard Njoo said more details on enforcement will be announced in the coming days, but he acknowledged that even with these new screening measures, sick travellers could still end up on trains and planes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no guarantee. People can always hide symptoms, take Tylenol,\u201d he said. \u201cSo I think at the end of the day it comes down to our collective understanding and our collective motivation and approach to do the right thing \u2014 if you’re sick, don’t travel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also on Saturday, Quebec’s deputy premier Genevieve Guilbault announced a rollout of police checkpoints, essentially sealing off eight remote regions of the province. The only exceptions will be for people who are providing essential services or travelling for health or humanitarian reasons.<\/p>\n

Several other provinces have imposed screening measures for travellers at their provincial boundaries and are imposing 14-day self-isolation for anyone coming from other provinces, while Nunavut has banned most non-residents from entering its territory.<\/p>\n

Despite these tightening travel rules within Canada, Trudeau says provincial borders will remain open for now.<\/p>\n

Trudeau also addressed the situation of the 248 Canadians stranded on a cruise ship off the coast of Panama, where some passengers have tested positive for COVID-19 and four people have died.<\/p>\n

The federal government is working with the Panamanian government and Holland America, which operates the Zaandam, in an effort to get the Canadians home.<\/p>\n

The efforts are part of the \u201cherculean task\u201d being undertaken to repatriate stranded Canadians around the world \u2014 work that is the focus of all Global Affairs Canada employees right now, Trudeau said.<\/p>\n

Ottawa residents Catherine McLeod and Paul Innes, retired teachers, are among those trapped on the Zaandam. They boarded the cruise in early March, before the spread of novel coronavirus became a global pandemic.<\/p>\n

In an email to The Canadian Press, McLeod said what had been a mostly enjoyable trip was turned on its head last weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe boom hit last Sunday when we were asked to return to our staterooms and not exit,\u201d McLeod recounted. They learned that many passengers and crew members had reported to sick bay with flu-like symptoms.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just hope and pray that no others die and that someone lets us dock and we can board a plane ASAP,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

In a statement, Global Affairs Canada said none of the passengers who died is Canadian. It said it is in contact with passengers, and those without symptoms are being transferred to another ship expected to dock at a U.S. port in the coming days.<\/p>\n

The department also confirmed Saturday that a Canadian citizen who was on a separate cruise has died from complications related to COVID-19 in Brazil.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile in Ontario, Premier Doug Ford is looking to limit gatherings to no more than five people and has committed to imposing steep fines and possible jail time against corporations involved in price gouging amid the COVID-19 crisis.<\/p>\n

Canada’s chief public health officer Theresa Tam said the latest data shows about seven per cent of COVID-19 cases in the country have resulted in hospitalization, three per cent have required critical care and about one per cent have been fatal.<\/p>\n

She noted that about 30 per cent of people hospitalized are aged 40 and under.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe continue to keep a close eye on the severity of the disease, because although there will be day-to-day fluctuation, a sustained trend of increased severity could point to a higher rate of infection in vulnerable populations or that the health system is being overwhelmed,\u201d Tam told a news conference.<\/p>\n

But she also noted \u201csigns of hope\u201d from British Columbia, where data indicates the province’s COVID-19 experience will likely resemble South Korea’s rather than brutally hit Italy.<\/p>\n

Tam noted that B.C. was the first area of Canada to experience community transmission. \u201cIt is too early to know for sure, but after weeks of public health interventions, the rate of growth appears to be slowing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She also warned this good news should not be taken as a sign that physical distancing and self-isolation measures should be relaxed.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur key message is to double down, absolutely double down,\u201d Tam said.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now is an absolutely critical time …. We’re definitely not out of the woods, we’ve got to keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 With files from Sidhartha Banerjee, Salmaan Farooqui and Liam Casey<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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