Canada tightens measures against non-essential travels amid pandemic

PM Trudeau has urged the public to cancel all the non-essential travel plans both abroad and in between provinces across the country

Canada is considering tightening its measures against Covid-19 pandemic as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has urged the public to cancel all the non-essential travel plans both abroad and in between provinces across the country.

Constantly evolving news about Covid-19 variants from other countries has spurred the government to consider sharpening the measures already in place and updated measures will be published very soon, Trudeau said.

"The bad choices of a few will never be allowed to put everyone else in danger," he said at a press conference in the capital city of Ottawa.

While the number of new cases linked to travel remains low, a single case imported from abroad is a case too many and the federal government is actively looking at ways to tighten the border, Trudeau said.

The government wants to ensure that any measures don't cut off the flow of trade, he said, noting that commercial flights coming into Canada from around the world might have non-essential travelers onboard, but essential cargo in the belly of the plane, Xinhua reported.

The border between Canada and the United States has been closed to non-essential travelers since March 2020, while international travelers flying into Canada must provide a negative COVID-19 test 72 hours before boarding their flights.

--IANS

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