25 more COVID-19 exposures identified on Montreal flights

Additional flights leaving from and landing in Montreal have been added to the Government of Canada’s possible COVID-19 exposure list.

Since December 16, 25 new flights have been added.

According to the Government of Canada, passengers on 23 total international flights that touched down or departed from Montreal since December 7 could have led to exposure.

In terms of domestic flights that departed from Montreal or landed at YUL, 14 could have led to virus exposure since the beginning of December.

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Most recently, an international flight from Brussels (flight AC833) touched down in Montreal this past weekend. Other potential international exposures came in from Chicago, Amsterdam, Newark, Frankfurt, Cancun, New York, Casablanca, London, Punta Cana, Tunis, Paris, and Fort Lauderdale.

The affected rows have been identified for almost all international flights.

Domestically, flights departing from or landing in Montreal have come from Halifax, Edmonton, Toronto, Charlottetown, Fredericton, Sept-Iles, Calgary, and Ottawa.

The information is collected through provincial, territorial, international health authorities, and public websites. Flights are added and removed regularly by the Government of Canada on its website.

Travellers are reminded that they are to self-isolate for 14 days upon entry into Canada. “This is mandatory, whether or not you have symptoms,” the government states.

In November, Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer, said there have been “very few reports” of COVID-19 spreading on board airplanes. She says it’s “extremely rare,” and as doctors and scientists learn more about the ventilation on modern aircrafts, they are not as hospitable to the virus as previously thought.

“There’s been very few reports, extremely rare reports actually, of transmission aboard aircrafts,” Tam said. “The modern aircraft is actually really good in terms of air exchanges and the way that airflow occurs in the cabin.”

Tam also said that procedures such as mandatory mask-wearing and proper physical distancing would help limit the spread of COVID-19.