OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says suspending incoming passenger flights from India and Pakistan for the next month must be done to keep Canadians safe.
Trudeau says it’s necessary because there has been a concerning surge of COVID-19 cases and the emergence of more variants of concern in certain parts of the world.
Also, the federal health minister has said half of the people who have tested positive for the novel coronavirus after arriving in Canada by plane have come from India.
The new travel measures were announced yesterday following pressure from provincial leaders, who said not enough was being done to keep infectious variants out of the country.
The B. 1.617 variant that appears to be wreaking havoc in India has been detected in several provinces.
The travel measures also require people coming from India and Pakistan through indirect flights to get a negative COVID-19 test in the last place they landed before arriving in Canada.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 23, 2021.