VANCOUVER -- The B.C. Centre for Disease Control has added a dozen flights to its list of COVID-19 exposures so far this week.

The centre added seven B.C. flights with the coronavirus on board to the list on Sunday and five more on Tuesday.

Details of the latest additions follow.

  • April 26: Air Canada flight 104 from Vancouver to Toronto (rows 32 to 38)
  • May 1: Air Canada/Jazz flight 8405 from Calgary to Kelowna (rows five to 11)
  • May 1: Air Canada flight 305 from Montreal to Vancouver (rows 12 to 15)
  • May 4: Air Canada flight 213 from Calgary to Vancouver (rows 16 to 22)
  • May 5: WestJet flight 3109 from Calgary to Nanaimo (rows 16 to 20)
  • May 5: Air Canada flight 4 from Tokyo to Vancouver (rows 25 to 30)
  • May 5: WestJet flight 3116 from Victoria to Calgary (rows not reported)
  • May 6: Air Canada flight 247 from Edmonton to Vancouver (rows 21 to 27)
  • May 6: Air Canada/Jazz flight 8407 from Calgary to Kelowna (rows six to 12)
  • May 7: WestJet flight 162 from Vancouver to Edmonton (rows 12 to 18)
  • May 8: AeroMexico flight 697 from Vancouver to Mexico City (rows not reported)
  • May 8: Air Canada flight 304 from Vancouver to Montreal (rows 23 to 29)

Anyone who was on any of the flights listed should self-monitor for symptoms of COVID-19, seeking testing and self-isolating if any develop, according to the BCCDC.

Passengers who were seated in the rows listed are considered to be at greater risk because of their proximity to a confirmed case of the coronavirus.

Studies suggest that the risk of COVID-19 transmission on airplanes is low, though there have been some examples of it happening. 

Number of exposures declining

The 12 flights added to the list so far this week are fewer than the province has seen by Wednesday in recent weeks.

Last week, for example, there were 52 flights added over the seven days, and 26 of those had been added to the list by Wednesday. 

In the month of April, there were a total of 259 flights involving B.C. airports added to the COVID-19 exposure list.

That total far exceeds the previous high of 194, set in the month of December 2020. 

The number of flights passing through B.C. airports with the coronavirus on board has tended to mirror the province's infection curve, with more flight exposure notices posted at the height of the province's COVID-19 waves and fewer notices when caseloads are lower.

With active cases and the seven-day rolling average of new cases declining in recent weeks, the number of flight exposures is likely to begin dropping as well.

B.C. health officials do not directly contact everyone who was on a flight with a confirmed case of COVID-19. Instead, notices are published on the BCCDC website