The third-country testing rules have left some Canadians stranded in southern Africa while forcing others to spend unexpected time in war-torn Ethiopia on their way home
New federal travel rules, criticized by many scientists and health experts, have left some Canadians stranded in southern Africa while forcing others to spend unexpected time in a war-torn country on their way home.
Canada is one of the few countries in the world to insist on third-country tests for its travellers after imposing a travel ban on southern African countries. It now faces condemnation from the Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. On Twitter on Sunday, he said it was “dismaying that some countries aren’t accepting negative COVID-19 tests from countries of origin and instead require tests only from third countries.
The temporary exemption for the Lufthansa flights will allow many stranded Canadians to return home – including the, which had been in South Africa to compete in a now-cancelled World Cup. The team will be able to return home on Lufthansa this week. But the exemption came too late to prevent travel nightmares for some Canadians.
Robyn Jones, a Canadian living in South Africa, said she and her husband and three children were obliged to spend 26 hours in Addis Ababa last week to get the required test, after being barred from their scheduled flight from South Africa a day earlier. She said the family felt very unsafe in their unplanned Ethiopia visit.
Richard Saunders, a York University political science professor who was stranded in South Africa last week, said Canadian officials at first advised him to fly through Addis Ababa – while also cautioning him that he could be placed in quarantine for 14 days in Ethiopia if his test was positive and he could not expect any Canadian embassy help because of their reduced staff levels due to the civil war.
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