Sunday December 20, 2020 | NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL
by Mary P Brooke, B.Sc., editor |Island Social Trends
Canada has suspended incoming flights from the United Kingdom, in light of a new strain of the COVID-19 virus during this second wave of the pandemic (as reported on earlier today by Island Social Trends).
There are now stricter lockdowns in Britain, announced UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson today, in the context of this new development. It will not be a normal Christmas, he felt it clearly to say, noting that ‘smaller will be safer’. As time goes on, the COVID public health messaging is becoming more precise and to-the-point.
The new virus may be as much as 70 percent more transmissible than the strain we’ve been dealing with so far in this year-long pandemic. However, so far there is apparently no evidence (not enough time to have any data, frankly) about the new strain being more deadly (other than it can impact more people more quickly, and thereby impact the health care system load).
It’s not yet known whether existing (in-production) vaccines will be effective against the new strain, and/or whether there is time for vaccine manufacturers to revise their production appropriately.
Impacting commercial, private & charter passenger flights:
Canadians who live or work abroad are always allowed to come home to Canada (with a 14-day quarantine required upon arrival), said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said earlier this week.
Meanwhile, due to this new viral development, all commercial, private and charter flights transporting passengers from the UK are now suspended indefinitely as of midnight tonight.
The restriction doesn’t apply to cargo flights, aircraft landing for safety reasons or flights that land for technical stops where no passengers disembark.
Sunday afternoon meeting:
The decision — revealed in a statement by Transport Minister Marc Garneau — followed a Sunday afternoon meeting of a group of cabinet members and senior government officials who convene as the Incident Response Group (IRG).
