Canada lifts test requirement for fully vaccinated travelers

Ottawa (CNN) – Canada announced it would raise pre-entry testing requirements for Covid-19 for fully vaccinated travelers starting April 1, saying on Thursday that the pandemic was entering a “transitional phase”.

The entry requirement for air, land and water ports will be dropped.

However, the announcement came with a warning that travel restrictions may need to be reimposed.

“As the weather gets warmer and more time is spent outside, we can expect to see a decrease in transmission in the coming months, but we have to be prepared for a waning of individual and group immunity,” said Jean-Yves Duclos, Canada’s Minister of Health. , during a press conference on Thursday.

Duclos added in a statement that fully vaccinated travelers may still be randomly selected for a test upon entry into Canada but will not be required to quarantine while awaiting their results.

Unvaccinated, partially vaccinated, eligible travelers to enter Canada They will still have to get a molecular Covid-19 test on arrival and on the eighth day. They will still be required to quarantine for 14 days.

While Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Wednesday that after two years of restrictions, Canadians were “extremely fed up” with the pandemic, health officials were cautious, saying the virus “will be with us for a very long time.”

Health Canada says more than 80% of Canadians are now fully vaccinated. Canada has now reported more than 37,000 deaths from Covid-19 since the pandemic began.

For the week of March 7, Health Canada reported that the number of hospital admissions continued to decline as did the number of intensive care unit admissions.

Top photo: Toronto Pearson International Airport on April 1, 2020, in Toronto, Canada. (Cole Burston/Getty Images)