Canada advises against international travel amid Omicron threat

A United States-bound passenger walks in Toronto Pearson Airport’s Terminal 3, days before new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) testing protocols to enter the U.S. come into effect, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada December 3, 2021. (REUTERS)

TORONTO  – Canada’s government implored residents on Wednesday not to leave the country as provinces ramp up vaccinations to combat the fast-spreading Omicron coronavirus variant, even as efforts to head off a COVID-19 wave are complicated by public fatigue over the pandemic.

COVID-19 case numbers are increasing  as Canadian hospitals struggle to clear backlogs from months of postponed procedures. Many exhausted staff members appear ill-equipped for another surge in infections.

“I say very clearly: Now is not the time to travel,” Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos told a news conference, adding it is clear there is community transmission of Omicron in Canada.

Duclos said the government is sending millions more COVID-19 vaccine doses and rapid tests to the 10 provinces.

Ontario is broadening the eligibility for a third shot of the vaccine to everyone over the age of 18, while shortening the required gap between the second and third doses to three months.

“As we combat the spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant, nothing matters more than getting these booster doses into people’s arms,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford said on Wednesday.

Canada’s most-populous province also announced a capacity restriction of 50% for indoor events with a capacity of at least 1,000, including sports activities, concerts and commercial film and television production.

Canada already has travel bans on 10 African countries because of concerns about the new variant. Canada advised people in March 2020 not to travel abroad unless necessary. But it withdrew the notice this past October – before the first Omicron cases were reported – citing the success of vaccination campaigns.

Peter Juni, director of Ontario’s COVID-19 science advisory table, urged people to take precautions, get vaccinated and not take Omicron lightly.

“What really worries me is that people are asleep at the steering wheel, internationally,” he said. “They have wishful thinking it will be mild. … This is not a realistic attitude.”

Scientists suspect Omicron is more transmissible given its rapid spread, although they caution it is too early to draw conclusions about its severity.

‘MASSIVE VULNERABILITY’

There is “massive vulnerability” in Canada’s healthcare systems, said Andrew Morris, an infectious disease doctor in Toronto, who added it is “highly likely” they will be overwhelmed.

The intensive care unit that Dr. Christie Lee oversees at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto secured some breathing room following the last COVID-19 wave, tried to give staff vacation time and was able to train new critical-care nurses.

“We’ve been told to prepare, potentially, for rapidly increasing cases,” Lee said.

In Alberta, a western Canadian province that experienced a punishing fourth wave, Dr. Christopher Doig’s ICU in Calgary still has COVID-19 patients, some of whom have been there for weeks. It is still operating at about 110% capacity, Doig said.

Shifting staff from other areas lets them “surge up” if needed, Doig said. “The downside of those surges is it pulls staff from other areas,” and the pandemic backlog of surgeries grows.

Health officials are trying to persuade the public to get third doses of COVID-19 vaccines. Provinces including Manitoba have expanded booster eligibility to everyone 18 and older. A number of other provinces have been rolling them out more slowly, targeting older or more medically vulnerable people first.

Amid fears of asymptomatic COVID-19 transmission, provinces that were given millions of rapid antigen tests by the federal government have come under fire for not distributing them more widely.

Ontario promised to make 2 million tests available in “high-traffic” areas and to allot five per student to school children this week. Quebec will hand out five tests per person starting next week. Alberta promised to give out 500,000 starting on Friday.

British Columbia health officials said this week they had not received the tests they were hoping for from the federal government and defended the province’s providing tens of thousands of rapid tests a week to hundreds of private employers.

Alberta loosened restrictions on private gatherings on Wednesday, with Premier Jason Kenney citing pandemic fatigue.

Ontario said this week it is “temporarily interrupting” its return-to-office plan for provincial employees

Juni said he understands that people are tired of the pandemic.

“I’m completely exhausted,” he said. “I’ve had it. I’m done completely. But the virus doesn’t care.”

gsg