From CBC News – link to source story
1.8% of traceable COVID-19 cases in Ontario sourced to international travel
CBC News · Posted: Jan 29, 2021
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is set to announce mandatory COVID-19 testing for all incoming international travellers at Toronto Pearson International Airport, according to a government source.
The province also plans to expand the availability of rapid COVID-19 tests in priority settings, like long-term care and high-risk retirement homes, essential workplaces and schools, the source said.
The news was first reported by the Toronto Star on Friday.
The announcement would come as Ontario deals with an increasing number of COVID-19 cases caused by variants of the virus. Revised forecasts released by public health officials on Thursday suggest that by March, the B117 variant first identified in the United Kingdom could be the dominant strain in Ontario.
As of yesterday, there had been 51 cases of B117 confirmed in the province.
In recent weeks, Ford has repeatedly called for mandatory testing at Pearson along with more stringent federal travel restrictions aimed at countries where new variants are detected.
“We have to test every person that comes into Pearson and any other crossing. It’s absolutely critical. We need to put barriers up every which way we can,” Ford told reporters on Monday.
“I can’t emphasize enough: close down our borders and make sure anyone that’s coming in gets tested.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Tuesday that new travel-related measures could be coming soon, and even went so far as to advise Canadians to cancel any travel plans. Tuesday morning, government sources speaking on background told CBC News that the restrictions will include that travellers entering Canada will have to quarantine in a hotel at their expense.
Despite Ford’s focus on international travel, provincial data cited by the government shows that it accounted for just 1.8 per cent of all traceable COVID-19 cases in Ontario. That figure falls to about 1 per cent for all traceable cases since Sept. 1, 2020, during the second wave of the illness.
International travel is the only category of likely transmission source that has not grown exponentially over the course of the pandemic.
As for an expansion of rapid testing, CBC News reported earlier this week that Ontario had deployed less than one quarter of the 4.6 million rapid tests distributed by the Public Health Agency of Canada to the province.
The Ministry of Health said at the time than More than 159,000 rapid PCR tests have gone to rural and remote communities, including First Nations, the ministry said, and about 850,000 rapid antigen tests have been distributed to long-term care homes and workplaces.
The Health Ministry also said it has distributed rapid tests to more than 150 workplaces — including Air Canada, Magna and Ontario Power Generation.