Canada extends COVID-19 measures for travellers from China to early April – National | 24CA News
Canada is extending its COVID-19 testing necessities for travellers from China, Hong Kong and Macau for an additional two months, the federal authorities introduced Thursday, pointing to a continued spike in infections and restricted knowledge sharing.
Since Jan. 5, air travellers arriving in Canada on flights originating from the People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong or Macau which can be two years of age and older have been required to current a unfavorable COVID-19 check earlier than boarding the plane to Canada.
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Those guidelines, which had been set to run out on Saturday, will now be prolonged till April 5, in response to an announcement supplied by the Public Health Agency of Canada.
“Despite the data provided by China thus far, on-going gaps in data availability remain a significant concern,” Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos mentioned within the assertion.
“Extending these temporary health measures will provide time for new, reliable data sources to be made available and allow time for expected domestic waves in China to subside.”
China has been grappling with a surge in COVID-19 circumstances since lifting its “zero-COVID” public well being measures late final 12 months, permitting residents to journey each inside and outdoors the nation for the primary time in practically three years.
The transfer led to tens of hundreds of latest circumstances per day, in response to unofficial counts, probably the most extreme of which overwhelmed Chinese hospitals. Wu Zunyou, the chief epidemiologist at China’s Center for Disease Control (CCDC), estimated final month about 80 per cent of the nation’s 1.4 billion folks have been contaminated throughout the current wave.
Since December, the CCDC has reported greater than 75,000 deaths associated to COVID-19 in hospital. But these knowledge stories don’t embody deaths at residence and solely counts fatalities attributable to pneumonia or respiratory failure — a slim definition that excludes many deaths that will be attributed to COVID-19 in a lot of the world.
China’s National Health Commission reported earlier this week that the “overall epidemic situation in the country has entered a low level” and that fever clinic visits as a result of COVID-19 throughout the Lunar New Year dropped about 40 per cent from earlier than the week-long vacation.
Yet the CCDC indicated Wednesday that infections have “fluctuated” over the previous week, marking slight will increase in new circumstances and hospitalizations.
The World Health Organization and several other nations, together with Canada, have pushed China to launch extra knowledge, which Beijing has refused to do whereas accusing others of “politicizing” the pandemic.
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Much of the surge in China has been attributed to the extremely transmissible XBB.1.5 variant, which has begun to dominate new infections within the United States and is estimated to now account for about seven per cent of latest circumstances in Canada.
The authorities has additionally lashed out at nations that require travellers coming from China to point out a unfavorable virus check, calling the demand “discriminatory” though it requires the identical of anybody coming into China.
Under the Canadian guidelines, travellers coming to Canada from China, Hong Kong or Macau should take a COVID-19 check not more than two days earlier than departure.
Passengers who’ve examined constructive greater than 10 days earlier than their flight, however not more than 90 days, can present their airline with the documentation of their prior constructive, rather than a unfavorable check, the federal government mentioned.
Health specialists have warned, nevertheless, that the principles will do little to cease the unfold of latest variants from locations like China, as travellers can check constructive days after touchdown in Canada with a unfavorable check.
Thursday additionally noticed Hong Kong launch a traveller incentive program that features 50,000 free flights to lure worldwide guests again to town.
— with information from Irelyne Lavery and the Associated Press
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
