Canada brings back random Covid testing for arrivals

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• jj says:

  22 Jul22 July 08:27

  Super-glad that I chose the USA rather than Canada for skiing in January. Not trusting the Canadian government was a large part of my thinking, and it looks like my judgement was right.

  Canada has far more resorts in my ‘must visit’ list than the USA but it will be some years and probably require a change of government before I go.

• Mikeact says:

  22 Jul22 July 09:02

  We’re looking to drive over the border from Seattle/Bellingham i5, to Delta BC….time it right, no problem.

• laughingplace says:

  22 Jul22 July 09:04

  Absolute madness bringing back covid tests. What is wrong with these people?! It’s not even a remotely dangerous virus anymore.

  • Stephan says:

    22 Jul22 July 09:19

    Except, of course, it is. The new variation is the most transmissable we’ve seen, and UK deaths are currently hovering at over 1,000 a day, up from around 150 a day a month ago. Cases are also up to around 138,000 a day, up from 6,500 a month ago. A significant portion of these will have complications that could last for years.

    The random spot-checks are going to be ineffective, absolutely, but claiming that covid isn’t remotely dangerous is disingenuous at best. That attitude is why cases and deaths are rising, again.

    • Nick says:

      22 Jul22 July 09:43

      Spot checks will be very effective assuming decent publicity is in place. Most people will test voluntarily before they get on a plane to Canada, especially if there’s a chance they might be positive, and then not board if they are. Very smart move as it will keep a lot of cases out of the country with very little effort or cost required locally.

      • Rob says:

        22 Jul22 July 10:01

        Indeed. We paid £440 for 4x rapid PCR tests before we flew to Mauritius because, whilst no tests are now required to fly (and so ‘Mauritius is open’), they test on arrival and very bad things happen to you if you fail.

        • Steve says:

          22 Jul22 July 18:17

          Really? When? FCO today say no test at either end. Going at Christmas and hoping it will not change.

    • Yuff says:

      22 Jul22 July 09:49

      On the government website it states that there were 908 deaths from covid in the past 7 days.
      The majority of those deaths will be from other illnesses who happen to test positive.
      If you are vaccinated it isn’t dangerous to the general population.
      So what if 138k people a day catch a runny nose, no reason to look people up for 10 days with a sniffle….

      • Chas says:

        22 Jul22 July 10:11

        I’m currently recovering from Covid and can tell you that it’s a lot more than a runny nose or a sniffle…. I’ve been quite surprised at how hard I’ve been hit as I’m a very healthy individual, and fully vaxed.

        • Ian says:

          22 Jul22 July 10:39

          I’m fully vaccinated and healthy too. My experience of Covid was very mild symptoms for a couple of days…I’ve had much worse ordinary colds. Everyone’s experience is different and whilst for some it’s a serious disease, for many it’s no worse than any other illness they might have had in the past.

        • Erico1875 says:

          22 Jul22 July 17:41

          That seems to be the situation with people I know who have had it recently. Floored for a couple of days, then 1 or 2 weeks to get back to normal.
          Where as, when I had it a year past June. Painted my decking., decorated the lounge, drank a lot of cider

        • Chas says:

          22 Jul22 July 19:29

          @Ian – yes I fully agree, but there’s no need for people to state that it’s just a sniffle like Yuff did, ignoring the fact that it’s hitting many people very hard. Like Erico1875, everyone I know who has had it recently has had a lot more than a bad cold….

    • laughingplace says:

      22 Jul22 July 10:19

      deaths *with* covid not of covid. Of course, as infections rise, deaths with covid will rise. Flu is now more deadly than covid. The omicron mutation was a game changer.

    • Ian says:

      22 Jul22 July 10:27

      Your figures are completely wrong. The latest PHE data (now published weekly rather than daily) shows 908 deaths in the last seven days (nowhere near 1,000 per day) and cases at 150,000 – again for the last seven days and showing a DECREASE of 14.4% on the previous seven days.

    • TGLoyalty says:

      22 Jul22 July 11:52

      Scaremongering there Stephan.

      Anyway with is not of. Break down to primary reason for hospital treatment/death and coincidental and it’s no where near the issue it was.

      For every it’s not the sniffles there will be 100 where it’s nothing more than the sniffles.

    • JerrySignfield says:

      22 Jul22 July 12:00

      Very easy for people to quote death statistics without real evidence of what the cause of death was, these death with covid are similar to deaths with grey socks, mostly irrelevant.

  • Jon says:

    22 Jul22 July 17:14

    I would have thought the bigger issue for most people is time off work? Eg I caught Covid a while back – 2 days of nasty flu type symptoms, but then two weeks of severe fatigue (basically bed-ridden, even getting up to make a cup of tea was exhausting), followed by another two weeks of extremely tired but functional (but not enough to do anything productive). Was week 5 by the time I felt properly normal again. I’m a fit and healthy middle-aged adult with no underlying health issues. Obviously everyone’s experience will be different, and I don’t know how mine compares or where on a scale from nothing to severe it would fall, but I’d just urge caution – sure it may not be fatal for most people these days, but unless you’re prepared for the possibility of taking 2-4 weeks off work, I probably wouldn’t be too complacent about catching it.

    • Jon says:

      22 Jul22 July 17:17

      I should have added – fully vaxxed and boosted too.

• dougzz99 says:

  22 Jul22 July 10:01

  COVID and the restriction necessary or not, are complicated. But one thing I’ve definitely seen first hand is the willingness of many to enjoy the restrictions. I have family members that generally don’t go out much, don’t travel abroad, and there’s definitely been an element of glee in their choices being forced on others.

  • Blair Waldorf Salad says:

    22 Jul22 July 10:32

    Also the civil servants preparing options for ministers are the very ones who benefit from the maintenance of a fully work from home situation which their unions can point to as a necessity when ‘cases’ are high.

• ankomonkey says:

  22 Jul22 July 10:13

  When Amex Gold/PRG offered a Lounge Club pass, The Grain Store was not included. Now that Amex Gold/PRG offer Priority Pass, I assume The Grain Store is an option. This might work out nicely since I have an LGW booking for October, just after the additional 2 lounge passes are added to Amex Gold/PRG.

  For once, I’m a winner! And it didn’t require the last 3 digits of my postcode (4UF just in case there are any active HfP competitions that I’ve missed).

• Badger says:

  22 Jul22 July 10:38

  Did this stop being a thing? There was random testing at Vancouver last month when I landed there

  • E says:

    22 Jul22 July 11:20

    They stopped it temporarily for about 2 weeks.

    • CamFlyer says:

      22 Jul22 July 12:57

      The testing requirement was dropped just in time for our visit to Canada, and reintroduced just after we left. Masks were still required from boarding the inbound flight (from the US) until exiting the airport in Toronto, and from entering the airport until the doors were closed on the outbound flight (KLM).

      In Canada we saw very little mask wearing outside of the airport. Masks were much more prevalent in California.

      • Erico1875 says:

        22 Jul22 July 17:49

        “The testing requirement was dropped just in time for our visit to Canada, and reintroduced just after we left”

        Are you a relative of Boris ?

• Smid says:

  22 Jul22 July 10:38

  A Priority Pass lounge you can’t use?

  Sounds like every single damn one in Birmingham. full of paid TUI and Jet2 customers, leaving the PP card useless.

• Kevin says:

  22 Jul22 July 11:27

  Pity about Priority Pass at Gatwick. Couldn’t get into the lounge yesterday as it was full. Again.

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