Skip to content

Canadians with COVID-19 symptoms to be denied boarding domestic flights, trains

Ban begins Monday, March 30, at noon
21108713_web1_170512-RDA-BUS-Aeroplan
An Air Canada plane flies underneath dark clouds illuminated by some sun rays above Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday, March 2, 2017. Air Canada said Thursday it will launch its own loyalty rewards plan in 2020 and not renew its contract with the company running Aeroplan, sending Aimia’s stock plummeting by more than 50 per cent and angering some points collectors.THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Frank Rumpenhorst/dpa via AP

Anyone who shows any symptoms of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, will not be allowed to travel domestically by plane or inter-city train beginning Monday, March 30.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the new domestic travel restrictions outside Rideau Cottage in Ottawa on Saturday.

Symptoms of COVID-19 include a dry cough, fever, tiredness and in the most severe cases difficulty breathing.

READ MORE: Do you think you have COVID-19? Here is what to do next

The new Transport Canada rules will be enforced by airline staff across the country. Currently, incoming international flights are only arriving at four airports nationwide: in Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal and Toronto. However, domestic flights are under no landing restrictions.

Trudeau confirmed that a full ban on inter-provincial travel is not being considered at this time.

“We would not like to take steps that we absolutely do not need to take right now. We will always look at what is needed,” he said.

Earlier this month, B.C.’s top doctor, Dr. Bonnie Henry, said it would be difficult to enforce such a ban because of how “interconnected” we are.

READ MORE: Interprovincial travel ban an unlikely response to combat COVID-19, B.C.’s top doctor says

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.



About the Author: Ashley Wadhwani-Smith

I began my journalistic journey at Black Press Media as a community reporter in my hometown of Maple Ridge, B.C.
Read more