“As an additional measure to protect the health and safety of Canadians, the Government of Canada will soon require air travelers to test negative for COVID-19 before boarding international flights bound for Canada,” Philippe Champagne tweeted.
Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc said officials would start implementing the measure within coming days.
Dozen of countries have turned more vigilant in recent weeks, demanding that air travelers headed their way be screened for the coronavirus before they get on the plane, following the discovery of a new variant of the virus in Britain, which UK authorities said was 70 percent more transmissible than COVID-19. At least 40 countries have reportedly closed their borders to UK-origin flights until more is known about the new virus variant.
Canadian officials earlier this week said they had detected the new strain in Ontario, the country's most populous province.