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Leaky border: Tourists and quarantine cheats threaten Canada amid U.S. COVID-19 surge
Source: Reuters
WORLD NEWS JULY 19, 2020 / 1:03 PM / UPDATED 10 HOURS AGO
Leaky border: Tourists and quarantine cheats threaten Canada amid U.S. COVID-19 surge
Julie Gordon, Tessa Vikander
5 MIN READ
OTTAWA/VANCOUVER (Reuters) - For 67 days, tiny Prince Edward Island went without a single new case of COVID-19. That changed earlier this month when Canada’s smallest province, best known as the home of fiction’s Anne of Green Gables, announced a cluster of new cases linked to a foreign student who entered Canada from the United States.
The man, who did not immediately self-isolate upon arrival in Canada as required by law, infected at least one person, who then infected at least four more.
“With tens of thousands of people crossing the border every day, there’s no way to enforce that” they follow the rules, said Colin Furness, an epidemiologist and assistant professor at the University of Toronto. “It’s a little bit scary.”
As Canada’s COVID-19 infections and deaths moderate, the explosion of new cases in the United States presents a challenge for Canadian authorities who must deal with both unwanted tourists slipping though the border and legitimate travelers who break the strict quarantine laws.
The problem is compounded by a recent jump in crossings. More than 187,000 truck drivers and individuals entered last week from the U.S., a 30% increase over the end of May.
-snip-
Leaky border: Tourists and quarantine cheats threaten Canada amid U.S. COVID-19 surge
Julie Gordon, Tessa Vikander
5 MIN READ
OTTAWA/VANCOUVER (Reuters) - For 67 days, tiny Prince Edward Island went without a single new case of COVID-19. That changed earlier this month when Canada’s smallest province, best known as the home of fiction’s Anne of Green Gables, announced a cluster of new cases linked to a foreign student who entered Canada from the United States.
The man, who did not immediately self-isolate upon arrival in Canada as required by law, infected at least one person, who then infected at least four more.
“With tens of thousands of people crossing the border every day, there’s no way to enforce that” they follow the rules, said Colin Furness, an epidemiologist and assistant professor at the University of Toronto. “It’s a little bit scary.”
As Canada’s COVID-19 infections and deaths moderate, the explosion of new cases in the United States presents a challenge for Canadian authorities who must deal with both unwanted tourists slipping though the border and legitimate travelers who break the strict quarantine laws.
The problem is compounded by a recent jump in crossings. More than 187,000 truck drivers and individuals entered last week from the U.S., a 30% increase over the end of May.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-canada-border/leaky-border-tourists-and-quarantine-cheats-threaten-canada-amid-u-s-covid-19-surge-idUSKCN24K0MP
