Canadian COVID-19 News

[Montanan]

COVID-19 India travel loophole: The $4,500 flight path that is helping stranded Canadians in India get back in the country


https://www.yahoo.com/news/covid-19-...172500094.html

Due to the sudden surge of coronavirus cases and the appearance of a novel, more transmissible variant in India, Canada banned all direct flights from India and Pakistan on April 22.

Unlike the U.S. policy, the Canada travel ban gave citizens no buffer time to get back to the country. This immediate and stringent action left many students, workers, citizens, and permanent residents stranded in India.

However, many Indians were quick to notice and act upon a very visible loophole – they could still travel to Canada via an indirect route. All they need is a negative COVID-19 test from a third country, such Ethiopia.

[Macblaze]

Great news!

From Facebook:

Gwaii Haanas will gradually re-open for visitors welcoming Haida Gwaii locals starting June 7 and off-island visitors starting July 1.
We are excited for visitors to once again safely experience Gwaii Haanas.
As with the decision to close, the decision to re-open is made with yahguudang respect for the guidance from our Haida Gwaii leaders and public health experts. Last week, the Council of the Haida Nation (CHN) announced the lifting of the Haida Gwaii State of Emergency and the resumption of travel, provided benchmarks from the BC Restart Plan are met.
Visitor Information: how to make a reservation or reach a tour operator
If you are a visitor from off-island planning to travel independently by boat, you are now welcome to make reservations for trips starting July 1. This will allow time for residents of Haida Gwaii to receive their second dose of the vaccine. We encourage visitors to arrive on Haida Gwaii vaccinated and to check the CHN website for updates before travelling.
If you are a resident of Haida Gwaii, you can now make reservations for trips starting June 7.
Please call 1-800-559-8818 or email pc.gwaiihaanas.pc@canada.ca to make reservations. As with previous years, visitors must attend an orientation to learn about safety guidelines and permit conditions.
Due to the unpredictable nature of the COVID-19 pandemic and variants, visitors should please be aware that it may become necessary to postpone or cancel a permit.
For visitors who plan to travel with tour operators, a list of operators can be found here < https://www.pc.gc.ca/.../gwaii.../vi...stes-operators >. Please be patient as operators are busy with re-opening preparations, from hiring staff to equipping boats.
Haida traditional use continues and Haida Citizens are encouraged to check the latest travel and safety guidelines on the CHN website.
Haawa to everyone for your commitment to respect and safety, and we look forward to welcoming you!

[Scorpius]

Originally Posted by Macblaze

Great news!

From Facebook:Gwaii Haanas will gradually re-open for visitors welcoming Haida Gwaii locals starting June 7 and off-island visitors starting July 1.*
We are excited for visitors to once again safely experience Gwaii Haanas.
As with the decision to close, the decision to re-open is made with yahguudang respect for the guidance from our Haida Gwaii leaders and public*health*experts. Last week, the Council of the Haida Nation (CHN) announced the lifting of the Haida Gwaii State of*Emergency*and the resumption of travel, provided benchmarks from the BC Restart Plan are met.*
Visitor Information: how to make a reservation or reach a tour operator
If you are a visitor from off-island planning to travel independently by*boat, you are now welcome to make reservations for trips starting July 1. This will allow time for residents of Haida Gwaii to receive their second dose of the vaccine. We encourage visitors to arrive on Haida Gwaii vaccinated and to check the CHN website for updates before travelling.
If you are a resident of Haida Gwaii, you can now make reservations for trips starting June 7.*
Please call 1-800-559-8818 or*emailpc.gwaiihaanas.pc@canada.ca*to make reservations. As with previous years, visitors must attend an orientation to learn aboutsafety*guidelines and*permit*conditions.*
Due to the unpredictable nature of the COVID-19 pandemic and variants, visitors should please be aware that it may become necessary to postpone or cancel a*permit.
For visitors who plan to travel with tour operators, a list of operators can be found here <https://www.pc.gc.ca/.../gwaii.../vi...stes-operators*>. Please be patient as operators are busy with re-opening preparations, from hiring staff to equipping boats.*
Haida traditional use continues and Haida Citizens are encouraged to check the latest travel and*safety*guidelines on the CHN website.*
Haawa to everyone for your commitment to respect and safety, and we look forward to welcoming you!

That IS great news! We're getting there!

Haida Gwaii is a very special place - although crossing Hecate Strait can be challenging. It's so shallow that if it blows you can get gravel from the bottom on deck!

[Montanan]

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said in a statement Monday that the province will officially enter Step 1 of its "Roadmap to Reopen" plan at 12:01 a.m. Friday, June 11th.

The decision means that restaurant patios and non-essential retailers will be able to reopen to the public for the first time in months.

Step 1 of the reopening plan allows outdoor gatherings of up to 10 people; outdoor dining with up to four people per table; non-essential retailers to open at 15 per cent capacity; outdoor sports training and fitness classes of up to 10 people; day camps; overnight camping at provincial parks; outdoor horse racing and motor speedways without spectators; and outdoor pools and wading pools to reopen.

[redhead]

I am happy to hear about Haida Gwaii. It's been a dream of mine to visit for several years. When and if the US/CA border opens we're on our way!

[sv_pelagia]

Originally Posted by Scorpius

That IS great news! We're getting there!

Haida Gwaii is a very special place - although crossing Hecate Strait can be challenging. It's so shallow that if it blows you can get gravel from the bottom on deck!

Tried last year (even did orientation); planned this year; this week had just started new plan for perhaps around Vancouver Island... but

Now so much choice!

[desodave]

The border may be open again before long according to the CBC this evening;
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/trudea...ions-1.6056584
BC's case counts and hospitalizations are continuing to drop so it seems likely that our intra-provincial travel restrictions will be lifted on the 15th too.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by desodave

The border may be open again before long according to the CBC this evening;
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/trudea...ions-1.6056584
...

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau revealed two key elements of the likely border reopening plan, in public remarks Monday: That the reopening will happen in stages and that the first travellers entering Canada will have to be fully vaccinated.
“... We are looking at how we're going to start welcoming up tourists in a phased way as the numbers* come down in Canada, as the numbers* start to come down in the United States and elsewhere around the world ...*"
Technical details still have to be worked out, such as the form proof of vaccination would take. That leads to another significant possibility: An asymmetrical reopening of the Canada-U.S. border, with each country applying different rules.

* Canada now has a higher percentage of its population with a single vaccine dose than does the U.S., but the share of the U.S. population that's fully vaccinated is nearly six times higher.

[Macblaze]

Originally Posted by GordMay

* Canada now has a higher percentage of its population with a single vaccine dose than does the U.S., but the share of the U.S. population that's fully vaccinated is nearly six times higher.

This. For all the whinging the various politicians are doing in the article, it comes down to each country (and their citizenship) feeling safe with the numbers. It will all settle out (and I am laying no bets on which countries will end up with which percentage) but "I own a cabin in ..." is so much less a reason to open/close the borders than "I want X or Y percentage fully vaccinated ..."

[Macblaze]

Came across this:

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Macblaze

This. For all the whinging the various politicians are doing in the article, it comes down to each country (and their citizenship) feeling safe with the numbers. It will all settle out (and I am laying no bets on which countries will end up with which percentage) but "I own a cabin in ..." is so much less a reason to open/close the borders than "I want X or Y percentage fully vaccinated ..."

Our fully-vaccinated numbers are going to rise rapidly now. I bet we'll surpass the USA soon, at which point there will be little reason to keep the border closed. Hopefully by end of July we'll be there.

But any opening is going to rely on some sort of vaccine passport system. This is going to be hard in the Canadian context, but not impossible. But in the American world of dispersed private healthcare providers, which trusted organization maintains an official record of vaccine status?

[Macblaze]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

I bet we'll surpass the USA soon, at which point there will be little reason to keep the border closed. Hopefully by end of July we'll be there.

I am not sure I agree with that logic. It's not exactly my opinion but I can certainly see people going "Well, Canada is 70% vaccinated but the US is only 55%...why should we let them in?" Given the Maritimes' overall response to COVID I could especially see that happening there.

On another note I saw the Apple WWDC keynote yesterday and they are introducing an electronic record system into their Health app to share info with the major US healthcare record companies. Which is both encouraging and horrify at the same time.

[Montanan]

[QUOTE=Mike OReilly;3422434]Our fully-vaccinated numbers are going to rise rapidly now. I bet we'll surpass the USA soon, at which point there will be little reason to keep the border closed. Hopefully by end of July we'll be there.

But any opening is going to rely on some sort of vaccine passport system. This is going to be hard in the Canadian context, but not impossible. But in the American world of dispersed private healthcare providers, which trusted organization maintains an official record of vaccine status?[/QUOTE]

Well Mike, my pharmacist gave me a blank official United States Center for Disease Control COVID-19 Vaccination Record Card for me to copy the data from my wife's vaccination record card because the record card they gave her had an incorrect name written for her. They mistakenly used my last name for her instead of her last name and when I noted to them that her last name was not my last name they had just crossed out the incorrect last name and wrote in her correct last name which revision kind of look's a tad dubious.

So yeah, perhaps if I use pencil to copy the data from her Vaccination Record Card to the blank form would that not suffice for the Border Patrol agents as a Vaccine Passport. Maybe along with using my Costco membership card or my city's library card, and a secret decoder ring from a Cracker Jack box, the combination of identification and certification should be proof enough to freely go to and fro across the 49th, or into the Maritimes.

The CDC COVID-19 Vaccination Record Card states:

"Please keep this record card, which includes medical information about the vaccines you have received." All sounds very official to me.

My card has my last name and an abbreviation of my first name, no middle initial and it has my date of birth, but no patient record number.
It does have the Vaccine Product Manufacturer name and lot numbers, the dates of the inoculations and the name and city location of the pharmacy where the inoculation was administered, but not the person who administered the inoculation.

[Kelkara]

Originally Posted by Montanan

So yeah, perhaps if I use pencil to copy the data from her Vaccination Record Card to the blank form would that not suffice for the Border Patrol agents as a Vaccine Passport.

I know you said this tongue in cheek ... but if it's a required document for entry to a country, it will be just as required as a passport and/or visa, and the border officials have just as much power to make your life miserable if they suspect it is forged, tampered with, or otherwise dubious ... so it behooves the traveller to make sure they have a good one.

The ICV used for yellow fever does theoretically have a paper trail, that an official can follow to confirm it's validity. Although the only time I was threatened with this, the guy was clearly fishing for a bribe.

The problem I see with using the same ICV for covid is that all the yellow fever clinics are somehow registered under WHO rules, and I'll bet that the majority of clinics administering covid vaccines are not required to have the same kind of registration, thus breaking that paper trail.

[sv_pelagia]

Originally Posted by Macblaze

I am not sure I agree with that logic. It's not exactly my opinion but I can certainly see people going "Well, Canada is 70% vaccinated but the US is only 55%...why should we let them in?" Given the Maritimes' overall response to COVID I could especially see that happening there.

Looking at it from a "glass half empty" perspective:
Currently (as of June 7th), 49% of the USA population (38% of Canadian population) has NOT yet received any COVID-19 vaccine.

And then there are the variants of concern....

Seems like perfectly good reasons to keep the borders restricted/closed