WASHINGTON — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is reminding travellers who are returning to Canada that they are “required” to isolate themselves at home for 14 days.
But Trudeau won’t say if his Liberal government plans to activate the Federal Quarantine Act, which would give it the power to arrest or fine those who don’t co-operate.
International travel — initially from China, then Iran and South Korea, then Europe and now the United States — continues to be a significant vector for the spread of the novel coronavirus in Canada.
And Canada’s border with the U.S., while closed to non-essential travel, is still open to trade and commerce, snowbirds and pleasure travellers returning to stay, as well as cross-border workers and students with visas.
The World Health Organization has warned that the U.S. is becoming the new centre of the global pandemic as the spread of COVID-19 continues to accelerate, particularly in and around New York, which is urging recent visitors to self-isolate at home.
Ontario health officials reported Tuesday that nearly 20 per cent of its active cases were the result of travel in the United States.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 25, 2020.
The Canadian Press
The Canadian Press
