Travellers at YOW calm but cautious as world reacts to coronavirus

Aside from the odd face mask and a worker vigorously sanitizing the leaves of a potted plant, it looked like a typical Wednesday afternoon at the Ottawa International Airport.

Earlier in the day, the World Health Organization officially declared the novel coronavirus outbreak a pandemic and a man in his 40s became Ottawa’s first case of COVID-19. Startling updates, to be sure, but for travellers at YOW with whom the Citizen spoke, pragmatism rather than panic was the predominant attitude.

“We’re worried, yes, we take precautions, but … we can’t stop living,” said Louise Poulin, a federal public servant who’d just returned to Ottawa from nine days in Florida with her husband, daughter and a family friend. They were following coronavirus news before they left with some anxiety but never seriously considered cancelling their trip. They just made sure to carry sanitizer, washed their hands regularly, and avoided touching surfaces where the virus would be most likely to linger.

“If you look at the statistics right now, it’s concerning, but we’re not in panic mode,” Poulin said.

Of 93 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Canada as of Tuesday, there has been one death. The public-health risk is low for Canada’s general population and the risk to Canadians abroad is destinationdependent.

Domestic travel feels “very safe,” said François Levert, a government lawyer who was flying home to Moncton after a work trip to Ottawa. “Domestically, you have control, more information about what’s going on, what’s being done to address the issue and mitigate the possibility of spread.”

Canadian airlines such as WestJet and Air Canada have web pages dedicated to coronavirus FAQs: how they clean the planes, the planned response if a passenger gets sick mid-flight, and the like.

At YOW and a number of other large airports across the country, international arrivals now have to answer a COVID-19-related screening question before passing through customs. The Public Health Agency of Canada was not immediately able to clarify the exact nature of the question.

Even if they’re not showing any symptoms of illness, travellers from Hubei, China, and Iran — where COVID-19 outbreaks have been significant — are now required to provide contact information when entering Canada, and are given a surgical mask and a handout advising them to limit their contact with other people for 14 days and to contact their public health authority within 24 hours.

The Ottawa International Airport said it has stepped up its own cleaning procedures, added more hand sanitizers and posted signs in the international arrivals area instructing travellers to tell a border service officer if they’re experiencing flu-like symptoms.

Compared with the airport they had departed earlier, federal public servants Yasmine and Sarra Chaouni said YOW felt normal. They were picking up their luggage after an 11-day vacation in the United Arab Emirates, which went off without a hitch. But they said the airport in Dubai was incredibly busy, full of face masks and in some cases, haz-mat suits.

“That freaked us out,” said Sarra, and Yasmine agreed. “It kind of creates that paranoia.”

On the whole, though, they weren’t overly fazed about travelling during what has become a pandemic. Yasmine said her mom had tried, unsuccessfully, to dissuade her from taking the vacation.

“You just have to be careful,” Sarra said. tblewett@postmedia.com

If you look at the statistics right now, it’s concerning, but we’re not in panic mode.