Canada bans air traffic with India and Pakistan due to increase in covid-19 cases – MercoPress

Canada has banned all flights arriving from Pakistan and also from India, where the spread of the coronavirus pandemic appears to have no ceiling.

Given the increased number of COVID-19 cases detected in air passengers arriving in Canada from India and Pakistan, is Transport Canada issuing an advisory to airmen, or NOTAM, to stop direct air traffic of passengers from those countries? ? said Canadian Transportation Minister Omar Alghabra at a press conference.

Indian health authorities have reported 346,786 daily infections, bringing the provisional count since the start of the pandemic to 16,610,481, with a death toll of 189,544. Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with the heads of government of the ten states most affected by the pandemic on Friday in search of a consensus. Meanwhile, the government is trying to alleviate the already extreme oxygen deficiency in some areas and has imported generators from Germany.

Alghabra said the ban is being implemented as more passengers arrive in Canada with positive test results. However, if travelers take a roundabout route, they will be required to show a negative PCR test at their last departure point and once they arrive in Canada they will need to follow the protocols, unless exempted, which includes the taking another test and staying at a government hotel pending your results.

Health Minister Patty Hajdu said the ban will allow Canadian public health experts to collect more data on epidemiology in those regions. I want to say that our hearts go out to the citizens of India, Pakistan, indeed the entire region during these incredibly difficult times. In the meantime, we will continue to apply strict tests and quarantine measures for all passengers arriving in Canada, ” he said.

In Pakistan, Prime Minister Imran Jan on Friday ruled out a large-scale lockdown in the country’s main cities, but warned that the situation could soon resemble India’s. “If our circumstances become similar to those of India, we will have to close the cities,” Jan said. “We cannot do it, as experience shows that the poor suffer the most when confinement is imposed.” , argument.

In a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, both Ontario Prime Minister Doug Ford and Quebec Prime Minister Francois Legault called on the national government to reduce the number of international flights arriving in Canada and to impose greater restrictions on the land border between Canada and the United States.

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