Why $2,000 for a resort quarantine? Your inquiries about Ottawa’s new vacation principles answered

© Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press
It really is unclear but when just air passengers landing in Canada will be necessary to consider a COVID-19 take a look at and verify into a quarantine resort.

Perplexed about Ottawa’s strict new rules developed to discourage travel all through the COVID-19 pandemic?

You might be not by itself.

After the federal governing administration announced the new vacation steps on Jan. 29, CBC News was flooded with email messages from Canadians wanting to know a lot more — including how Ottawa arrived up with a $2,000 resort quarantine invoice.

So considerably, the governing administration has offered only wide information about the new rules, but it promises to offer far more information in the coming times.

This is what we know now.

Air passenger rules described

Some of the government’s new vacation measures are presently in area. On Jan. 31, Canada’s main airways — in an arrangement with Ottawa — cancelled all flights to Mexico and the Caribbean until finally April 30.

Many American airways still fly from Canada to those people places, but passengers will experience at least a person U.S. stopover alongside the way.

Canada’s airlines are continue to flying to the United States, due to the fact essential employees will need to journey involving Canada and the U.S. during the pandemic, Transport Canada informed CBC News on Thursday.

Canada-bound passengers must deliver evidence of a adverse COVID-19 exam before boarding their flight, and all flights entering the country are now remaining funnelled into 4 important airports in Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver.

In accordance to the government, most air travellers entering Canada will soon be essential to consider another COVID-19 take a look at upon arrival and wait around for the results — up to a few times — in a designated hotel in their arrival city. Travellers who take a look at destructive can depart and finish the relaxation of their 14-working day quarantine at home. 

People with good test results will be expected to continue to be at a specified govt facility. 

What about the charge?

Travellers will be billed for their resort keep, and Ottawa has instructed the price could be about $2,000. It’s unclear if two people today sharing a place would have to spend double that amount of money.

Several folks have questioned how a three-working day continue to be in a lodge could complete $2,000. The federal government claims the amount would also go over related expenses, these types of as the value of the check, transportation, foods, lodge safety and cleaning. 

“It really is not just simply just the price of a resort room,” Public Security Minister Bill Blair explained on Jan. 29.

He mentioned travellers should not balk at the cost tag.

“We imagine that if they’re likely to make that alternative [to travel], that they should bear the whole cost and obligation of all the measures that are necessary to hold Canadians secure.”

Any exceptions to the rule?

The governing administration has claimed that there will be “limited exceptions” to the lodge quarantine need, but it hasn’t yet laid out who will be exempt. At a information conference on Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recommended that there could be some wiggle area for severe instances.

“Obviously, there might be particular compassionate or humanitarian exceptions that will have to be made in given circumstances, and we are going to seem at those people,” he claimed.

Some snowbirds who have presently obtained the COVID-19 vaccine in Florida have asked CBC Information if they’ll be exempt from the resort quarantine need.

Ottawa says no, at the very least not at this time.

Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s main community overall health officer, said on Friday that it is really unclear if vaccinated people can nonetheless get the virus devoid of establishing symptoms and then infect some others.

“The scientific theory underpinning the application of vaccines for global journey are not able to be designed at this time, because we do not know if the vaccines lower transmission,” she informed CBC News.

When will the lodge quarantine rule get impact?

The start out date is continue to up in the air. 

Transport Minister Omar Alghabra suggested final Sunday that air travellers could be ushered into lodges as early as Feb. 4.

But on Feb. 2, Trudeau indicated that it could be weeks before the resort quarantine need requires result.

“We hope to have that carried out in just the month — weeks to appear,” he claimed in French at a news meeting. “Men and women are performing very difficult to generate a technique so that it is founded before people commence travelling for the March break.”

What occurs if I refuse to comply?

In a news launch announcing the new journey steps, the govt also laid out the fines for breaking the country’s quarantine need. Violators could experience severe penalties, such as 6 months in jail and/or up to $750,000 in fines. 

What about the land border?

For the reason that the Canada-U.S. land border is shut to non-necessary visitors, most of the people today currently crossing into Canada by land are vital workers who are exempt from quarantine.

But some snowbirds who flew to U.S. sunbelt states this winter shipped their vehicles across the border and program to drive back again home.

At this position, the lodge quarantine rule will never implement to travellers crossing into Canada by land. But the government has indicated it truly is functioning on more durable guidelines at the land border, these kinds of as a COVID-19 examination requirement for non-vital travellers.

“We’re also looking at techniques to even further improve our land border actions,” Trudeau reported on Friday. “We’ll have more to announce on this soon.”