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
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.