Isolation rules not applied evenly
MORE THAN 80 PER CENT OF CROSS-BORDER TRAVELLERS SINCE LATE MARCH EXEMPT FROM QUARANTINE
Government officials have repeated the contention often: anyone entering Canada from another country must go into quarantine for two weeks to avoid importing COVID-19.
Polls suggest Canadians broadly support the border restrictions, especially now as the number of cases, deaths and hospitalizations from the virus explodes next door in the United States. The Canada-u.s. border closure was extended this week until August 21.
But it turns out the isolation rules don’t apply to everyone.
In fact, more than 80 per cent of the three million people who have arrived here since late March have fallen under one of a slew of exemptions to the federal isolation order.
That includes truck drivers, whose essential role in cross-border trade would clearly make long periods in isolation unfeasible. Fishermen, soldiers, airline crew, critical-infrastructure technicians and students working in health care — among others — can also avoid quarantine when they enter Canada, say federal regulations.
If someone displays COVID-19 symptoms, the exemptions don’t apply.
But it still means that between March 25 and earlier this week, less than 360,000 “non-exempt” travellers have had to isolate themselves — out of close to three million who arrived here, according to Public Health Agency of Canada figures.
The little-noticed list of exclusions underscores the complexity of trying to “close” borders that normally see 10 times the volume of traffic as they do now.
For the 358,323 who have not been exempted, there are regular robocalls and automated emails reminding them of their obligations and, increasingly, live calls checking up on them from Public Health Agency of Canada or Service Canada officials. Hundreds of potential scofflaws have been contacted by police, too.
Even though relatively few have been fined or charged for violating the rules, the system seems to be working, says Tammy Jabreau, a Public Health Agency spokeswoman.
“How effective the measures are cannot be judged by how many tickets are issued,” she said via email. “Since March — when travel restrictions were implemented by the Government of Canada — COVID-19 cases associated with international travel have decreased substantially, from 21 per cent (3,703) of all cases in March to two per cent (173) in June.”
Overall, the number of cases in Canada has slowed to a relative trickle.
But experts note that COVID-19 came here as a result of international travel, an influx they say must be regulated closely to avoid a flare-up that could reverse the recent progress.
“This is how the first wave started, it came from other countries, and some people who were clearly not observing the quarantine recommendations,” said Dr. Jeff Kwong, a University of Toronto public-health professor.
Amir Attaran, a health policy professor at the University of Ottawa, said he’s not concerned about the exemptions so much as what he called the “total absence” of enforcement for those who are in quarantine.
“The honour system is a halfwitted Canadian farce which all but guarantees that we will be reinfected from outside the country, and quite often I should think,” he said.
Attaran noted that Iceland tests all arrivals for COVID before they are allowed into the country; Australia quarantines arrivals immediately in hotels, before they take a connecting flight; and South Korea requires arrivals to install an app which traces their whereabouts for 14 days.
“I have requested government do one of these three things. Government has never answered me.”
According to Canada Border Services Agency statistics, close to three million people have entered this country since the borders were shut March 25, a decrease of about 90 per cent from the same period in 2019.
Truck drivers account for a little under half that number.
Federal cabinet orders extend exemptions from the quarantine requirement to several other groups, as well, including airline crews on the drastically reduced number of flights arriving from outside the country.
There are several health care-related exemptions, such as individuals offering “emergency services” or providing medical care, and those transporting or maintaining medical equipment. Students working in a health field or licensed health-care professionals with proof of employment here are also excluded. So, too, are patients coming to Canada for essential health services.
Health workers are mostly barred from working with people over 65 during their first 14 days here.
Anyone involved in fishing or fish farming gets a pass, as do members of Canadian or visiting, foreign armed forces. People who live in a community that straddles the border or who have to cross the frontier to go to work or carry out everyday functions don’t have to isolate each time.
Also exempted are technicians needed to install or maintain equipment for critical infrastructure.
THIS IS HOW THE FIRST WAVE STARTED, IT CAME FROM OTHER COUNTRIES.
Everyone else who is not exempted receives three emails — on the fourth, eighth and eleventh days of their quarantine period. Recorded phone messages go out on the eighth and eleventh day.
And 175,723 people have received live calls from a trained “screening officer,” who rates the person’s compliance through a series of questions, said Jabreau of the Public Health Agency.
For the first several weeks those calls only went out to people who indicated they had COVID-19 symptoms, plus a random sample of others. But since May 5, officials are trying to call all non-exempt travellers, she said.
“These measures have been essential to slowing the spread of the virus within Canada’s borders,” said Jabreau about the border restrictions. “We have found that Canadians are responsive to their obligations and are dedicated to protecting public health.”