Questions raised about value of random COVID-19 tests for travellers – CTV
July 20, 2022
OTTAWA – Infectious disease experts are at odds over how valuable it is to randomly test travellers arriving in Canada for COVID-19, as the federal government relaunched its mandatory testing program.
The government put a pause on random testing at airports in June as long customs delays caused chaos at Canada’s airports, but relaunched the program on Tuesday at four major airports: Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver and Montreal.
Randomly selected air travellers at those airports must now report to off-site locations to be tested for COVID-19 or pick up a self-swab kit.
Dr. Theresa Tam, the chief public health officer, has called the tests an “early warning system” for new variants of COVID-19 as they enter Canada.
The government has issued several contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars to companies across the country to administer the program.
