COVID-19: Appearance before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health (March 31, 2020)—Quick reference daily reports

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Daily COVID-19 brief

Operational update

Emerging situations/issues

March 30: The Government of Canada has introduced new domestic transportation measures to support provincial, territorial, and local efforts to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

Starting March 31 at 12:01 am EDT, all travellers, in all modes seeking entry into Canada are required to fill out the PHAC Coronavirus Form. Providing the information requested is mandatory under the Quarantine Act.

All air operators and intercity passenger rail companies are required to conduct a health check of travellers before boarding, based on guidance from PHAC. They are required to refuse boarding to passengers that present COVID-19 symptoms. These measures do not apply to commuter trains.

There are 50 Canadians stranded in Mali (total ROCA 537). The Embassy of Canada in Mali has informed Canadians of a flight leaving Mali for Washington D.C., which may be scheduled later today. 96 Canadians have signaled their interest in this flight.

German Nationals repatriation flights via Air New Zealand: TC asked for information to be confirmed on the possibility of 12,000 passengers transiting through YVR (Vancouver International Airport): airport capacity issue at stake.

Federal bering cargo ship

A bulk carrier sailing from Brazil to Hamilton with 22 crew, including 1 crew who reported symptoms compatible with COVID-19 on March 19. The ship is arriving at Les Escoumins on April 1 (Day 14) and is clearing customs in Hamilton on April 5.

TC, CBSA, CCG, PHAC, Port of Montreal, Port of Hamilton, St-Lawrence Seaway, Great Lakes Pilotage Authority and other stakeholders discussed the Federal Bering on March 30.

The intent is to have the vessel disinfect bridge and surfaces to allow pilot boarding in Escoumins, Trois-Rivières, and the St-Lawrence Seaway. Social distancing will be implemented to support boarding/docking.

Repatriation

The Zaandam cruise ship is being tracked due to confirmed cases of COVID-19 among passengers, and 4 deaths. 247 Canadian passengers and 1 crew member have been identified aboard. The Zaandam and Rotterdam cruise ships have cleared the Panama Canal and are anticipating disembarking passengers in Florida. There are 97 Canadians on board the Zaandam and 150 onboard the Rotterdam. Interdepartmental planning for repatriation of Canadian passengers has been launched.

Daily reporting

BIS line received 1,790 calls on March 30, 2020.

Top questions received by the BIS line included:

• Alaska related questions (for example, transiting to/from)
• Importation of surgical masks/hand sanitizer/etc.
• Essential travel/admissibility (especially family admissibility)

Top issue:

Confusion about reunification and compassionate admissibility rules.

Planning

The Planning Section is continuing work with GoC and other stakeholders to further develop the COVID-19 Risk Assessment Decision Tree with respect to the arrival of Cargo Ships. PHAC's planned approach indicates a need to establish a list of Priority Goods and People through the Plan For the Movement of People and Goods soon.

The Planning Section is also preparing an operational response in anticipation of the arrival of passengers and crew from the MV Zaandam (some on MV Rotterdam presently).

COVID-19 global statistics and news

China: (82,198 confirmed cases; 3308 deaths). As other countries tighten their restrictions, China has eased restrictions following the government's declaration of victory over COVID-19. Airline flights from Hubei province at the center of the outbreak resumed March 29, and subway and bus service resumed March 28 in the provincial capital of Wuhan.

Italy: (101,739 reported cases; 11,591 deaths). On March 30, Italy's death toll climbed by 812; new cases rose by just 4,050, the lowest since March 17.

UK: (22,448 reported cases; 1231 deaths). IRCC has now taken over full responsibility from Consular for actioning requests for letters exempting from travel restrictions, following new interim order instructions.

Brazil: (4661 confirmed cases; 165 deaths). The Brazilian President continues to advise that strong measures to contain COVID-19 are unnecessary citing the potential damage to the economy. Twitter removed the President's tweets for spreading misinformation about the virus.

Spain: (85,195 confirmed cases; 7716 deaths). Spain passes China's number of cases; 838 deaths overnight, Spain's highest daily increase and a rise of 8%.

France: (45, 169 reported cases; 3030 deaths). On March 30, France reported its highest single-day death toll of 418.

Australia: (4361 reported cases; 17 deaths). Air Canada flights are still operating out of Australia but a number of confirmed flights have recently been cancelled, leaving Canadians possibly stranded. AC flights from Sydney to Vancouver (AC34) this week are oversold. The earliest flights from Sydney with available seats are in early April.

South Korea: (9661 reported cases; 158 deaths). Suspension of direct flights: Air Canada - from March 31; Korean Airlines - from April 2. Significant flight availability exists on all remaining direct flights. After April 2, Canadian citizens in Korea must travel to Canada via Japan, London, Paris, Frankfurt and a number of US locations.

US statistics

The US is reporting the highest number of cases globally and now is the epicentre of the outbreak. The US has extended federal guidelines recommending that Americans stay home for another 30 days until the end of April to slow the spread of the virus.

143,653 (+18,967) cases and 2,572 (+381) deaths reported in the US as of March 30.

The US CDC has information on 122,653 cases (2,112 deaths) reported from 55 jurisdictions.

Exposure details are known for 2,038 cases:

• Travel-related: 712
• Close contact: 1326

Canadian enhanced border measures

Air travellers

Between March 22 and 30, 224 (+4) travellers responded yes to the health screening questions, "Do you currently have a cough, difficulty breathing or feel you have a fever?"

In the same time frame, 236 (+10) were referred to a PHAC quarantine officer (includes calls to PHAC notification line) as they were identified to be a potential case of concern.

Land, rail and ferry travellers

Between March 22 and 30, 75 (+2) travellers responded yes to the health screening questions, "Do you currently have a cough, difficulty breathing or feel you have a fever?"

In the same time frame, 71 (+4) were referred to a PHAC quarantine officer (includes calls to PHAC notification line) as they were identified to be a potential case of concern.

Travel ban

Between March 22 and 30, in all modes, there were 658 (+51) US citizens and 116 (+12) other foreign nationals denied entry to Canada due to non-essential travel.

Between March 22 and 30, 101 foreign nationals were refused entry to Canada by air by from foreign locations other than the US.

Between March 22 and 30, in all modes, there were 302 (+26) Canadian citizens and 22 permanent residents denied entry to the US because of non-essential travel.

Between March 22 and 30, in all modes, there were 3 refugee claimants admitted into Canada as an exception and 7 (+1) claimants that was directed back to the US. Please note that the increase of 1 is due to improved data collection methodology and is not from March 30, 2020.

Between March 22 and 26, 6 foreign nationals were intercepted by the RCMP in between the ports of entry (Manitoba reports on a weekly basis).

International border measures

Colombia: (800 reported cases; 12 deaths). The Colombian airspace is closed and a lockdown imposed until April 13. Diplomats accredited in Colombia are exempted. All commercial flights stopped operating, including Air Canada.

Japan: (1866 reported cases; 65 deaths). As of March 30, Japan expanded its entry ban to include people travelling from the US, China, South Korea and most of Europe.

Labour relations / Occupational health and safety

As of 16 March 2020, any periodic health evaluation which is due to expire before September 1, 2020 will be granted an automatic extension of 6 months (from date of expiry). The individual employee will not have to submit an application for the extension.

Canadian statistics

Daily traveller numbers

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Date modified:

2020-07-29