Ontario ready to force all international travellers at Pearson to get COVID-19 tests

Thestar.com
Jan. 28, 2021
Rob Ferguson

Ontario is considering an order that international passengers arriving at Pearson airport must submit to COVID-19 tests to catch cases of the U.K. variant and other more contagious strains of the virus that has killed almost 6,000 in the province, the Star has learned.

The move is being driven by concerns the federal government isn’t moving fast enough on border restrictions at a time when vaccines are in short supply and the variants pose an increased threat to health and hospital capacity, a senior provincial source said Wednesday.

Chief medical officer Dr. David Williams -- who raised concerns Monday about the problem -- is strongly considering an order under section 22 of Ontario’s Health Protection and Promotion Act mandating the tests, the government source added.

While at least 133 “variants of concern” have been detected in the province and public health experts say they are spreading in the community, catching new cases from abroad would help limit the danger, the source said on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

“The only way we can eradicate these new variants is by ensuring they can’t slip through our border,” added the source.

“The first case of the U.K. variant was identified in Canada a month ago, yet we still don’t have any details from the federal government on how they plan to protect our border. They’ve said to expect some action, but we don’t know what, where, when or how.”

Premier Doug Ford urged Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday to introduce mandatory tests at all border points -- including on land -- after results of a pilot project at Pearson found that 2.3 per cent of arriving international passengers who submitted to tests voluntarily since Jan. 6 were positive for COVID-19.

More than 6,800 international travellers were tested as part of the pilot project, with 146 positive for COVID and four of them having the U.K. variant. That positivity rate is high considering passengers are required to have a negative COVID test within 72 hours of departure to board their planes, the provincial source said.

GTA mayors have also called for stronger restrictions, including Mississauga’s Bonnie Crombie, who said Wednesday that mandatory tests would provide “an extra layer of community protection.”

Pearson is considered a prime location for mandatory tests because 30,000 international travellers arrive weekly and the infrastructure in place for the voluntary tests can quickly be scaled up to handle increased volumes. Positive tests would be further examined for variants.

Trudeau has hinted at stronger measures that could come “without warning” but said federal officials are keen to avoid interrupting imports of vital goods that often arrive in the cargo holds of passenger flights.

But Ontario seems to be losing patience, with the U.K. variant already blamed in a rapid and devastating outbreak at Roberta Place nursing home in Barrie, where all but two residents have become infected and more than 45 have died.

“Premier Ford has been calling for increased testing at the airport for months. If the feds don’t act to protect our communities, we will,” the provincial government source said.

Health Minister Christine Elliott was meeting Wednesday night with her federal counterpart Patty Hajdu to seek clarity on federal intentions.

Williams told a news conference Monday the variants are about 50 per cent more contagious than typical COVID-19 and are being detected in dozens of countries. Because they are more contagious, they can lead to faster spread of the pandemic, and more hospitalizations and deaths.

“We’re going to have to be on our guard,” he cautioned as he called for more travel restrictions. “Where it’s coming from is getting wider and wider.”

In Barrie, medical officer Dr. Charles Gardner revealed Tuesday that COVID-19 tests from 99 more people in the Simcoe-Muskoka health unit showed they have “variants of concern.” Those samples are undergoing genomic sequencing to determine whether they are the U.K. variant previously identified in several residents at Roberta Place.

Three of the 99 new cases have no link to the nursing home.

“It will be hard for us to prevent this spreading in the community,” Gardner warned.

He recommended better controls on travel between regions in Ontario, saying stronger border measures alone aren’t enough given that variants are already circulating here.

Ford has previously rejected regional travel restrictions, saying they are difficult to enforce. The province imposed a stay-at-home order Dec. 26, and cases have been falling steadily in the last two weeks, but public health officials fear numbers could begin rising again if the U.K or other variants take hold.

In a proactive step, the Kingston-area health unit is asking residents who have travelled outside their region or have had visitors from out-of-town to get tested for COVID-19 even if they are symptom-free. The health unit identified its first U.K. variant case on Monday in a person who had travelled to Simcoe-Muskoka a few weeks ago.

Public Health Ontario is increasing its surveillance for the U.K. and other variants, including strains from South Africa and Brazil not yet detected here. There are preliminary reports from British scientists that the U.K. strain could be 30 per cent more deadly, but more data is needed to make a precise determination.