In light of all of the seasonal travel and the new strains of Coronavirus circulating in Europe and Africa, many countries are reexamining their travel restrictions and what travelers will need to do to enter the country. Canada is implementing new guidelines, requiring all travelers to present a negative COVID-19 result three days before entering the country. These guidelines are not the first safety guidelines to have changed over the recent months, and are certainly not the last to be put in place for Canada and other countries, either.
[post_page_title]Flying south for the winter[/post_page_title]
Many Canadians typically use the winter as a time to travel south, to areas like the Caribbean and Mexico. Despite the Canadian government’s request that citizens stay at home and that they skip traveling this holiday season, many are likely to ignore the request. As such, a fresh wave of Coronavirus cases are likely to spring up across major cities across the country if plans are not put in place to minimize the risk. People coming into the country, citizen or otherwise, are already required to undergo a 14 day quarantine.
However, these quarantines are self-imposed, and rely on the obedience of citizens to be completely effective. The added requirement for a negative COVID-19 test no more than three days before traveling by plane allows border control to more thoroughly vet those who are coming back to the country.
[post_page_title]Honesty helps[/post_page_title]
This new safety guideline only serves to highlight one of the major issues with traveling, which is that quarantine and isolation relies mostly on the honest report of the average citizen. For many, it is something they will do. Nevertheless, there is a contingent of people, in Canada and other nations, who refuse to abide by safety guidelines and therefore put other people at risk. Canada’s southern neighbor, the US, has had similar struggles highlighted by rising cases after Thanksgiving, and the numbers are very likely to rise after Christmas and New Year.
Indeed, not even those within the government listen to some of these requests, with Ontario’s Finance Minister taking a warm vacation in the Caribbean. He issued a public statement of regret about traveling despite the warning, but in all likelihood, he –like many others — show regret only when they are caught. Going forward, people should do their utmost to slow and stop the virus by listening to safety guidelines.
