that data shows the danger that still exists from international flights, said dr. jeff kwong, the interim director of the centre for vaccine preventable diseases, and a professor of family medicine and public health, at the university of toronto.
“one to two per cent positivity doesn’t sound very high, but on a flight of 100 people that’s going to be one or two people on each flight,” kwong said.
“there’s the question of how much transmission happens in that — at airports, what’s your chance of catching it, and then on the flight, what’s your chance of catching it. how many people who are on that flight get infected by going to the airport, waiting in line and all that sort of thing, and then being on a plane?
“it is not just the infected traveller, it’s all of the other travellers who may have been infected by the infected travellers and then going back into the community.”
postmedia has tracked 290 international flights that arrived in canada in april with at least one passenger onboard who tested positive for covid-19.
for phac, however, there is plenty of good news in their data.
“the majority of these travellers were staying at a government-authorized accommodation hotel when they tested positive and were then redirected to a designated quarantine facility or another suitable location to limit their interaction with other canadians,” said tammy jarbeau, a spokeswoman for phac.