Nearly 20 Montreal flights have been exposed to COVID-19 in past week

The Government of Canada is warning passengers that over a dozen Montreal flights have had COVID-19 exposures since last week.

There have been 17 total flights going into and out of Montreal that have had exposure to the virus since February 5. Eleven flights have been domestic and six were international.

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Most recently, an Air Canada flight (AC8302) departed Montreal for Charlottetown on Tuesday.

Since last week, outgoing and Montreal-bound domestic flights came from Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary, and Charlottetown.

Internationally, flights landed in Montreal from Fort Lauderdale, Istanbul, Paris, Detroit, Bogota, Doha, and Punta Cana.

The government website doesn’t list the number of passengers per flight, only which rows have been affected.

In January, the Canadian government announced new measures for travellers. All air travellers are mandated to reserve a room in a government-approved hotel for three nights at their own expense after touching down in the country. People returning from flights are also required to take a COVID-19 molecular test upon arrival, also at their own cost.

To ensure travellers’ compliance with the new quarantine requirements, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) is working with security companies to help “complete compliance checks for travellers arriving in Canada.” Employees are being trained by the PHAC as “screening officers” who will visit quarantine locations to ensure guidelines are being followed.

The officers will confirm the traveller’s identity and ensure all travellers are in their required place of quarantine upon entry into Canada.

At the beginning of 2021, new travel rules require air travellers bound for Canada to present a pre-departure negative COVID-19 test in order to fly.

All flyers above the age of five are required to take a coronavirus molecular polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test within 72 hours before their flight’s scheduled departure. Test results must come back negative with written or electronic proof, and documentation must be presented to airlines before boarding.

If a negative PCR test is not provided, travellers will be denied entry to flights within Canada, unless otherwise exempt.