Health Minister dodges questions about banning India flights

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Federal Health Minister Patty Hajdu says she’s confident of this country’s pandemic border protections, even as Canada deals with spikes of infected passengers arriving daily from world hot spots.

And Hajdu remained cool to restricting Canada’s numerous daily flights from COVID-wracked India, where a devastating second wave has coincided with a new “double-mutant” variant.

“The challenge with country-by-country approaches is COVID spreads in way that we can see, and ways that we can’t,” she responded when asked if Canada is considering banning flights from India.

“The safest thing for Canadians is to have a universal approach that requires scrutiny at the border.”

So far this month, 33 flights from Delhi carried COVID-positive passengers, according Health Canada.

That’s out of 112 international arrivals carrying infected passengers, despite assurances that Canada’s border protections are among the strongest in the world.

“There’s a very low rate of importation at the border,” she said, despite being specifically asked about the latest variant. Health Canada has told the TorontoSun it considers the strain a “variant of interest.”

Health Canada reported 640 of 44,089 international travellers tested positive between Feb. 22 and March 15.

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Current rules require incoming passengers to present a recent negative test before boarding, submit to a second test upon landing, and pay for a three-day stay at a government-approved COVID-19 hotel while awaiting the results.

Korea, which last year closed visa-free travel to Canadians, subjects all incoming travellers to meticulous multi-day testing and contact tracing, followed by a mandatory 14-day quarantine in a government facility.

Likewise, the Philippines — which has banned entry to most foreigners — also requires exempted international arrivals to undergo comprehensive screening, install a mandatory contact tracing app on their smartphone and pay for a week-long stay at a government-approved quarantine hotel.

On Sunday, New Zealand became the first nation to ban travellers from India — even its own citizens — until the end of April.

While India banned international flights last month, Canada is one of 13 nations exempted via an “air bridge” arrangement between the two governments.

“We’ll continue to do our part at the border to make sure we’re aware of travellers who are sick and properly isolating them so we don’t add to the burden of cases in the community,” Hajdu said.

bpassifiume@postmedia.com
On Twitter: @bryanpassifiume