Fines levied for refusing COVID tests at Pearson
Mandatory procedure found at least 32 cases of virus since Monday
Mandatory COVID-19 tests at Pearson airport have found at least 32 cases of the virus, and Peel police have handed out $750 tickets to three international travellers who refused them as the federal government works to get quarantine hotels up and running.
The tests have been required of all arriving passengers from other countries since Monday noon under an Ontario government order aimed at detecting more contagious variants of the virus that could seed a third and more devastating wave of the pandemic with vaccines in short supply.
“Our government’s mandatory testing program will serve as a stopgap until the federal measures are in place,” Alexandra Hilkene, a spokesperson for Health Minister Christine Elliott, said Friday.
“While we are glad to see the federal government taking action, we need these measures sooner rather than later to prevent new cases, including variant cases, arriving in Ontario.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who announced the mandatory hotel quarantines a week ago, told reporters Friday they will be in place “as soon as possible” in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary and Montreal.
Incoming international travellers — who are already required to produce proof of a negative COVID test performed within 72 hours of boarding their flights — will have to stay at their own expense while awaiting test results instead of going straight home to isolate for 14 days.
The 32 positive cases from Pearson were out of 6,243 tests conducted as of Wednesday evening, according to the latest figures available. It is not yet known if any are variants of concern. Further analysis of positive COVID-19 tests in the province released Friday identified three additional cases of the B.1.1.7 variant originally detected in the United Kingdom, raising the number of known cases to 155.
There is one confirmed case of the B.1.351 strain first found in South Africa, in a Mississauga resident who had not travelled internationally. Health officials say there are likely more cases involving both variants given community spread. Computer modelling forecasts the B.1.1.7 strain will dominate in March.
That complicates the picture for Premier Doug Ford with more schools resuming in-class learning on Monday and the government planning for the eventual easing of lockdown restrictions on businesses, with an announcement early next week as a 28-day state of emergency expires Tuesday.