Remember when the pause button was pressed in 2020 and the advice to “go home and shelter in place” was followed soon afterward by medical directives and government advisories to avoid travel of all forms? Fast forward a year and the recommendations, due to the persistence of the COVID-19 virus and its variants, remain unchanged.
Travel is tightly controlled, and many countries, Canada included, have implemented strict entry requirements and protocols. With the increasing accessibility of vaccines, many of these restrictions will lift, but at this moment, best to keep our more ambitious travel plans under wraps a wee bit longer.
When you do have an urgent or essential reason to travel – for business, family care, work, repatriating – it is important to assess the risks and plan accordingly. With advice from industry experts and those who have needed to travel in the last year (myself included), let’s look at ways you can travel in a safe and responsible way this summer.
Preparations
One thing for sure, travel during this period will not be the “let’s grab our bags and go” variety. Critical to all travel now and likely in the future will be one’s thorough research and preparations in order to meet new protocols for travel within and outside of Canada. Among the things you will want to check and plan for:
Domestic Travel in Canada
- what parts of Canada can you travel to?
- are there provincial or regional requirements; which provinces/territories require periods of self-isolation?
- what types of accommodation and services will be available to you?
International Travel: Departing and Returning to Canada
– what is Canada’s current advisory about travel?
- what requirements are necessary to travel safely; vaccination against COVID-19, a pre-departure COVID-19 test?
- what are the requirements for re-entry; a COVID-19 test, quarantining, arrival forms?
- what type of insurance is available and would protect you should you contract COVID-19 while travelling, and need medical intervention?
International Travel: Destination
– what is the travel advisory in your destination country?
- is the country open to foreign visitors?
- is a COVID-19 test or vaccination required of visitors prior to entry?
- are visitors required to quarantine upon arrival?
- are there other forms that must be submitted prior to entry?
At time of publication, essential travel within Canada was possible via land or air, with a 14-day period of self-isolation still required for out-of-province visitors in all Maritime provinces, and northern territories.
To dissuade people from any non-essential travel and restrict the spread of the virus until cases lessen and the majority of people have been vaccinated, international travel comes with a more detailed list of requirements. Chief among them is proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken by an accredited lab within 72 hours of boarding your flight.
In speaking with Michelle Stilwell at CVM Medical Ltd. in Richmond, BC, it is clear that travel clinics of this sort are playing a vital role in the reopening of the travel industry. I ask her about the logistics and timing of the testing for out-going airline passengers.
“Well, first thing is to book your flight, then check our online calendar, and book accordingly. Tests are $195.00 and results are available within 48 hours.”
I try to imagine the complication this is adding to travel – having to co-ordinate testing and results in time for boarding.
“While the PCR test is considered the gold standard in testing,” adds Stilwell, “some airlines are now trialling rapid antigen testing at the airport, where you can receive your results within four hours.”
In a press release published on March 30, the International Air Transport Association stated they support the greater use of rapid antigen kits, citing their convenience and cost-efficiency in comparison to PCR tests. Hopefully, considering these benefits, these tests will be considered the new gold standard in the not-too-distant future.
The IATA is also working on a travel pass, a mobile app that will help travellers store and manage passengers’ verified certificates for COVID-19 tests and vaccines, which will soon be trialed by various airlines.
In Transit
Keep in mind that some services may be limited and practices that permitted congregating of people and sharing of materials will be discouraged or temporarily suspended. Be prepared for a slimmed down experience, where efficiency and safety are prioritized over comfort and sociality. Book transport and accommodation well in advance to ensure these services are operating.
Packing
Your supply of masks, small bottles of hand sanitizer, gloves and sani-wipes will be more important than your supply of sunscreen and mosquito repellent. Also, as packing ‘light’ might also be a rule to follow for the foreseeable future in order to minimize your contact with the environment and extra crowds and procedures, taking only carry-on bags with you on flights might be advisable.
Those of us who needed to travel in the last 15 months, either domestically or internationally, report that the experience was a surprisingly pleasant one, and might be a harbinger of things to come. From uncrowded airports, aircraft, and buses to scrupulously cleaned hotels, to restaurant staff delighted to see you, travelling had the ease that only remote locations during shoulder season usually enjoy!
It was, however, at the cost of a tremendously devastated travel industry (best not to think about the chocolatier in St. Andrews-by-the-Sea in New Brunswick or the ice-cream seller in St. Mark’s Square in Venice!), and one can only hope it creeps back to the level where the small souvenir shop and other tourist-oriented businesses can still keep their doors open.
In the meantime, until the transmission rates of the virus have been substantially reduced and the majority of people immunized, a much scaled-down travel industry will continue to serve those who must travel. And we will all collectively hope that, within the year, we will be able to wrap our arms around those people and those places we have so longed to see again!
For up-to-date information, check government websites prior to travelling, such as www.travel.gc.ca for Canada.
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