BCCDC data shows significant decrease in COVID-19 exposures on flights in September
September saw a dramatic decrease in the number of COVID-19 cases detected aboard flights involving B.C. airports compared to August, but was still one of the busiest months of the pandemic for flight exposures.
As of Oct. 6, 251 flights that took off from or landed at B.C. airports during the month of September had been added to the B.C. Centre for Disease Control's list of exposures.
That total is the third-highest number of flight exposures during a single month since the pandemic began, and it may grow to eclipse the 261 flights recorded in April of this year as more people test positive and the BCCDC becomes aware of their recent travel.
September almost certainly won't catch August, however. That month ultimately saw 522 flights added to the list, exactly doubling April's previous record.
It's unclear what exactly caused the August surge, though it coincided with rapid growth in B.C.'s daily COVID-19 caseload.
At the beginning of August, the province's seven-day rolling average for new daily infections was 176. By the end of the month, it had risen to 685.
September, by comparison, had a higher - but more stable - rolling average. It was 698 on Sept. 1 and 742 on Sept. 30, and it never got higher than 800 or lower than 600 over the course of the month.
The BCCDC has previously told CTV News Vancouver that flight exposures are likely correlated with rates of transmission in the location where the flight originates, meaning B.C.'s case rate is only partly responsible for flights passing through B.C. airports with the coronavirus on board.
Another factor is the sheer volume of air travel, which has increased in 2021 compared to 2020, though it remains down significantly at Vancouver International Airport. In July, the most recent month for which figures are available, B.C.'s largest airport served only a fraction of the number of passengers it had in July 2019.
September's flight exposures came during a month in which Canada relaxed travel restrictions for international visitors.
After allowing fully vaccinated travellers from the U.S. to visit Canada for non-essential reasons without quarantining in early August, the federal government extended that welcome to fully vaccinated travellers from other countries in early September.
International travellers bound for Canada have also been required to provide proof of a negative test before boarding since January of this year.
No testing requirement currently exists for domestic travellers, nor is proof of vaccination required to board flights within Canada, though the federal government said Wednesday that vaccination would be required for domestic travellers by Oct. 30.
Three-quarters of the COVID-19 exposures on airplanes in B.C. since the pandemic began have been on domestic flights. In September, 182 of the 251 flights with exposures were domestic, while the remaining 69 were international.
Last month, a Vancouver infectious disease specialist told CTV News all passengers should be required to provide a negative test and proof of vaccination before boarding an airplane, regardless of the destination.
Even then, there will still be some risk of COVID-19 transmission on flights, said Dr. Brian Conway, medical director of the Vancouver Infectious Diseases Centre.
"We currently live in a world of COVID," Conway said, at the time. "It is highly likely that we will live in a world of COVID for the foreseeable future, so these (flight exposures) are occurrences that will happen on an ongoing basis. They will not, not happen."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Saskatchewan households will continue to receive carbon tax rebate: Trudeau
Households in Saskatchewan will continue to receive Canada Carbon Rebate payments, despite the province refusing to remit the federal carbon price on natural gas, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
“It's just so hard to let it go. I mean, everyone is telling me, ‘you have to move on,’ but I know someone is not here [anymore]. So I don't know how I will move on." That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
Senate expenses climbed to $7.2 million in 2023, up nearly 30%
Senators in Canada claimed $7.2 million in expenses in 2023, a nearly 30 per cent increase over the previous year.
Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko won't play in Game 2
The Vancouver Canucks will be without all-star goalie Thatcher Demko when they face the Nashville Predators in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.
Pedestrian, baby injured after stroller struck and dragged by vehicle in Squamish, B.C.
Police say a baby and a pedestrian suffered non-life-threatening injuries after a vehicle struck a baby stroller and dragged it for two blocks before stopping in Squamish, B.C.