China News Service, July 20. According to a comprehensive report by Canada's "Sing Tao Daily", the Canadian federal government began to resume testing for the new crown virus on incoming air passengers from Tuesday (19).
Experts have called for greater transparency on how the measure will keep Canadians safe.
The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) suspended random testing at airports last month amid growing pressure to address lengthy airport delays, CTV reported.
But from July 19, fully vaccinated international air travelers landing in Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal or Toronto will again be subject to mandatory random testing.
But this time at an off-site facility rather than an airport.
Dr. Bogage, an infectious disease expert, said on Tuesday (19th): "Obviously there was a problem at the airport and this thing was put on hold for a while. For whatever reason, they decided to re-implement it now. And, you know, It's not entirely clear what's going on with the data."
Health Minister Duclo's office said only 4 to 5 percent of travelers were selected for mandatory random testing.
The Public Health Agency of Canada said in a statement that random testing is used to monitor the COVID-19 situation by collecting data on travelers entering the country to understand where risks are coming from in order to prepare for the next wave of outbreaks that may arise in the future. Prepare.
But Bogage said it was unclear what the federal government would do with the data and how it could help Canadians stay safe.
“It would be great if the data had good meaningful, actionable results. Let’s hear what they are, and then we can make value judgments. Is it worth it? Do we have other ways to collect the data? How much is it cost and what is the return on investment of collecting this data?" Bogage said.
On Thursday (14th), Duclo said random testing of incoming air passengers is essential to monitor the entry of new variants of the virus.
Random testing at airports isn't the only way health officials gather data on new variants entering the country.
Bogage said health authorities could also inspect waste water from planes or investigate recent travel by people who are positive for Covid-19.