Alberta will pilot COVID testing at border & airport instead of 14-day quarantine period
On Thursday morning, officials in Alberta announced that it will introduce rapid testing for air passengers, and do away with mandatory quarantine periods. The news comes as COVID-19 cases in the province soar to the highest levels to date. Here’s some more info.
Basically, the province wants to shorten, if not eliminate, the quarantine period that all international travellers had to undergo. So, rapid testing sites will be set up at the Coutts land border and the Calgary International Airport starting November 2nd. If all goes to plan, then this could be a strategy used across the country in the near future.
That way, travellers will be able to get tested right then and there. If they receive a negative test result, then they will not have to self-isolate for the full two-week period. Instead, they will be required to follow up with another test one week after their initial one.
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LIVE: Announcing new COVID-19 testing for Canadian travellers returning to Alberta
— Jason Kenney (@jkenney) October 22, 2020
The voluntary screening will be available to essential foreign travellers like truck drivers and other essential workers, then also for any Canadians returning to the country from abroad.
We can only assume that they move is to encourage Canadian travellers returning to the country to come through Alberta first. The new system should bolster revenue across the province, but does not provide the same level of public safety as the quarantine period. For the record, rapid testing systems can show false negatives as much as 50% of the time, according to Harvard University.
So, while we’re happy for the province to pilot this new system, we also urge travellers to take most, if not all, of the same precautions that were already in place.
For more information, click here for the full press release on the Alberta rapid testing pilot.
