The BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) added five new flights in and out of Metro Vancouver's two major airports to the list of potential COVID-19 public exposures Monday.
The flights, all domestic and all between B.C. and Alberta, are as follows:
- Aug. 2: Swoop # 202, Abbotsford to Edmonton (rows not reported)
- Aug. 3: Flair # 8101, Vancouver to Calgary (rows 20-26)
- Aug. 8: WestJet # 123, Vancouver to Calgary (rows 25-30)
- Aug. 9: WestJet, # 171, Edmonton to Vancouver (rows 23-29)
- Aug. 10: WestJet, #141, Edmonton to Vancouver (rows 17-23)
A complete list of all current affected domestic and international flights in and out of British Columbia is provided on the BCCDC public exposures page.
“Where information on affected rows is available, passengers seated in these should be considered to be at higher risk of exposure due to their proximity to the case,” reads the BCCDC public exposure web page.
Passengers on a domestic flight with a confirmed case of COVID-19 should self-monitor for symptoms for 14 days. Anyone arriving in Canada from outside the country is required to self-isolate for 14 days under the federal Quarantine Act. Travel outside of Canada is not recommended at this time by the BCCDC.
On August 14, Minister of Transport Marc Garneau announced Canada's new Flight Plan for navigating COVID-19.
This action plan puts in place a multi-layered system of safety measures to support public health by protecting air travellers and air industry workers from COVID-19.
To date, the Government of Canada says it isn't aware of any cases attributed to passenger-to-passenger transmission on a flight to or from Canada. However, work continues with the provinces and territories to strengthen contact-tracing processes to reduce and quantify the risk of COVID-19 transmission during air travel.
With files from Elana Shepert and Kirsten Clarke