Snowbirds call for changes to new quarantine rules
Seniors arriving home from Florida say many already vaccinated and tested
Montreal snowbirds who winter in Florida say they should be exempt from new quarantine rules when they return home because most will have been vaccinated against COVID -19.
“The vaccinated snowbirds returning from the U.S. with negative COVID-19 tests will be the safest people in town,” said Susan Raymer, who has been down south since December.
Because all travellers have to show proof of a negative COVID -19 PCR test before boarding a flight to Canada, it makes more sense to give vaccinated snowbirds a rapid test at Trudeau airport and allow them to quarantine for 14 days at home, Raymer said in an interview.
“They can monitor us either through our cellphone or use a prisoner's ankle bracelet,” she said.
Several snowbirds emailed their Members of Parliament on Friday to express displeasure over new travel restrictions they say are punitive.
All travellers flying back to Canada will soon have to pay about $2,000 for a hotel stay of up to three days while they await the result of a COVID-19 PCR test. The fee will cover lodging, food, a COVID test and security.
Snowbirds who are planning to drive home will also have to provide proof they had a negative COVID-19 PCR test within 72 hours of arriving at the border. They will not be required to take a second test and can quarantine at home for 14 days.
“They don't want to have to pay that $2,000,” said Denise Dumont, editor of Le Soleil de la Floride, a newspaper that caters to Quebec snowbirds.
“Not everyone is a millionaire. Some have a place here, but we know they're on a budget.”
Many snowbirds are calling on Ottawa to adopt more sensible rules by the time hundreds of them return to Quebec in April.
They say it makes no sense to treat elderly snowbirds, who have been vaccinated, the same way as short-term vacationers staying at all-inclusive resorts.
From Sunday until April 30, Canadian airlines have cancelled flights to sun destinations in Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the new measures are necessary to prevent Canadians from travelling during the March break and to reduce the spread of more contagious variants of COVID -19.
There are too many COVID-19 patients in hospitals, and healthcare workers are exhausted as the pandemic enters its second year.
Raymer defended her decision to winter in Florida while Ottawa has been discouraging Canadians from taking non-essential trips.
“The decision to travel was not made lightly,” she said. “We are living the same way we did in Quebec, in semi-isolation mode. If we spent the winter in Montreal, it would have meant we would not be outside. My husband is terrified of walking on slippery, uneven sidewalks and roads that haven't been cleared or sanded, as is generally the case.”
Another employee at Le Soleil de la Floride said many snowbirds are outraged over the new restrictions. Several snowbirds asked the paper's editor to contact Canada's consul general in Miami to see if some of the restrictions could be lifted.
They want Ottawa to make a distinction between snowbirds who spend the winter in their condos or mobile homes in Florida and tourists who travel to all-inclusive resorts in the Caribbean and Mexico. “People here wear masks and are very careful,” said Josée Pouliot. “There are no parties or events.”
A doctor who received a COVID-19 vaccine in Arizona questioned why she is required to pay for a COVID -19 PCR test at Trudeau airport, hours after providing proof of a negative test prior to boarding her plane.
“Why would you have to take two tests, that's crazy?” said Dr. Tanya Fitzpatrick. “If you have the vaccine and take a test 72 hours before you leave, I think that should be sufficient.”
During her stay in Arizona, Fitzpatrick obtained the Moderna vaccine, which is 94.1 per cent effective after two doses.
Airlines are working on repatriation plans to fly travellers home. People with bookings on Air Transat can find information about their flight at airtransat.com.
On Monday, the Bloc Québécois asked the federal government to pay for the costs of quarantine for people who travel for exceptional reasons, including family reunification, medical treatments abroad and other humanitarian reasons.
“The goal remains to ban non-essential trips,” said Bloc public safety critic Kristina Michaud. But in some exceptional situations, “the quarantine should be the responsibility of the state.”