33 flights added to B.C. COVID-19 exposure list so far this week; most since early May

Vancouver -

The B.C. Centre for Disease Control has added 33 flights involving B.C. airports to its list of COVID-19 exposures since Sunday. That's the most new additions to the list in a one-week period since the week that ended on May 8, when 52 flights were added to the list.

The BCCDC added eight flights to the exposures list on Monday, six on Tuesday, eight on Wednesday and 11 on Thursday.

Though the latest additions were added to the list this week, the flights in question either took off from or landed at a B.C. airport between July 8 and 19.

Twelve of the 33 flights added so far this week were international, while the rest were domestic.

Details of all flights with a coronavirus case on board - including rows considered to be at greatest risk - can be found on the BCCDC website. 

While studies suggest the risk of contracting COVID-19 on an airplane is low, there have been some examples of it happening. 

The increase in the number of flight exposures follows several weeks in which the BCCDC added fewer than two dozen flights per seven-day period.

In the past, the number of flights with COVID-19 cases on board passing through B.C. airports has tended to mirror the pandemic's overall trajectory, with more exposures happening during times when active caseloads are high or rising and fewer happening when they are low or declining. 

On Friday, B.C. health officials announced more than 100 new cases of COVID-19 in a single day for the first time since mid-June. 

While the rolling seven-day average for daily cases in the province remains a fraction of what it was in April, at the height of the third wave of the pandemic in the province, it has been rising in recent weeks.

As of Friday, the average was 73 cases per day, more than double the post-third-wave low of 35 on July 5.

The increase in flight exposures comes roughly two weeks after Canada began allowing fully vaccinated Canadian citizens and permanent residents to enter the country without quarantining. 

Fully vaccinated Americans will be allowed to enter Canada without quarantining as of Aug. 9, and the federal government has said it plans to extend the policy to all fully vaccinated international travellers on Sept. 7.

The U.S., meanwhile, has decided to leave its border closed to Canadians travelling for non-essential purposes until at least Aug. 21.