Direct flights from Canada to India and Pakistan will continue to be banned until at least June 21.
Canada has extended the travel ban for all direct passenger and business flights from India and Pakistan for another 30 days, until June 21, 2021.
The travel ban first went into place on April 22 for 30 days, until May 22.
Cargo flights carrying vaccines and protective equipment will continue to be allowed into Canada.
Passengers may still be able to come to Canada. They will have to do so via an indirect route, and will need to get a COVID-19 test from their last point of departure.
The news was confirmed by Omar Alghabra, Canada’s transport minister, at a government pandemic briefing on May 21.
“I can say that we’ve seen a significant reduction in the number of positive cases of COVID-19 arriving from international flights since this restriction was put in place,” Alghabra said.
Air Canada extended the flight ban to India last week, expecting the government’s announcement. The airline does not fly to Pakistan.
Canada concerned about variant
Canada’s deputy chief public health officer Dr. Howard Njoo reiterated the importance of the travel restrictions in place, saying that about 70 per cent of new COVID-19 cases are variants of concern.
“It’s important to have these measures in place, and we recognize that although importation of variants is a small part of what’s happening with respect to the situation in Canada, anything we can do in terms of that added layer is important at this time,” Njoo said.
The Indian variant is called B.1.6.1.7. Between February 22 and May 6, 279 passengers tested positive for this new variant. There may also be community transmission within Canada. This is according to data from the Public Health Agency Canada (PHAC).
Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer had said that this variant shows increased transmissibility.
On Monday, India surpassed 300,000 deaths related to COVID-19. This is the third highest death toll in the world. The country also announced 222,315 new COVID-19 cases, bringing its total to almost 27 million since the pandemic began. This is the second highest, after the U.S.
India has the second largest population in the world, with over 1.3 billion people.
In addition, a rare but fatal fungal infection began affecting COVID-19 patients in India, and has worried doctors.
