COVID-19 tests will be mandatory for travellers from China for another two months

OTTAWA – People arriving on flights from China, Hong Kong and Macau to Canada must take a COVID-19 test before boarding for another two months after Canada announced on Thursday it would lift border restrictions on air travel from those areas to renew.

The government last month ordered pre-boarding tests for people arriving from those places after China lifted long-standing public health restrictions, prompting a nationwide outbreak of the virus.

The testing requirement is now expected to remain in place until April 5, the Public Health Agency of Canada said in a statement Thursday.

The government is concerned about reports of a dramatic increase in COVID-19 cases in China and a lack of available data from China about potential variants that could be spreading across the country.

“Despite the data provided by China so far, the ongoing gaps in data availability remain a significant concern,” the public health agency said in a statement.

“The extension of these temporary health measures will allow time for new, reliable data sources to be made available and time for expected domestic waves in China to subside.”

The agency said it was also concerned about what China’s reopening could do for Canada’s “already strained” healthcare system.

Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said earlier this week that the measures were necessary at this point and any changes would be based on the advice of the government’s public health experts.

The move to tighten border restrictions on travelers from China was criticized last month by some infectious disease experts who feared it would do little to stop the virus from spreading around the world and could exacerbate discrimination against China.

A spokesman for China’s foreign ministry at the time criticized the change, saying some countries were trying to manipulate the COVID-19 measures for political ends and they would take countermeasures.

The restrictions mean that any air traveler over the age of two arriving in Canada on a flight from China, Hong Kong or Macau, regardless of citizenship or vaccination status, must have proof of a negative antigen molecular or rapid test result for COVID-19.

The rule also applies to travelers who only pass through Canada on their way to another country.

Those whose flights are being rerouted via China, Hong Kong or Macau and who are in the country for less than 24 hours do not need to take the test.

This report from The Canadian Press was first published on February 2, 2023.

The Canadian Press