VANCOUVER

Flights involving airports across B.C. added to list of COVID-19 exposures list

Ian Holliday CTVNewsVancouver.ca Journalist

Published Wednesday, November 25, 2020 1:29PM PST

An Air Canada Boeing 737 Max aircraft arriving from Toronto prepares to land at Vancouver International Airport in Richmond, B.C., on Tuesday, March 12, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Text:

VANCOUVER -- The B.C. Centre for Disease Control has added more than a dozen flights to its list of COVID-19 exposures since Sunday, and many of them involve smaller airports around the province.

The centre added 12 flights to the list on Monday and another seven on Tuesday.

Details of the affected flights follow.

Nov. 5: North Cariboo flight 2010 from Fort St. John to Kelowna (rows not reported)
Nov. 9: United Airlines flight 1641 from Denver to Vancouver (rows 22 to 27)
Nov. 11: Swoop flight 407 from Abbotsford to Toronto (rows 17 to 23)
Nov. 12: North Cariboo/Summit Air flight 2011 from Kelowna to Fort St. John (rows not reported)
Nov. 14: WestJet flight 133 from Calgary to Vancouver (rows three to nine)
Nov. 15: WestJet flight 491 from Calgary to Comox (rows four to 10)
Nov. 15: WestJet flight 3111 from Calgary to Kamloops (rows 12 to 18)
Nov. 16: Swoop flight 109 from Hamilton to Abbotsford (rows 15 to 21)
Nov. 18: Air Canada flight 127 from Toronto to Vancouver (rows 33 to 39)
Nov. 18: Air Canada flight 8261 from Vancouver to Nanaimo (rows four to 10)
Nov. 18: Air Canada/Jazz flight 8239 from Terrace to Vancouver (rows six to 12)
Nov. 18: WestJet flight 3106 from Terrace to Vancouver (rows one to six)
Nov. 18: WestJet flight 126 from Vancouver to Calgary (rows one to six)
Nov. 18: Air Canada/Jazz flight 8075 from Vancouver to Victoria (rows 11 to 17)
Nov. 18: Air Canada/Jazz flight 8247 from Terrace to Vancouver (rows 12 to 18
Nov. 19: Air Canada flight 123 from Toronto to Vancouver (rows 18 to 21)
Nov. 19: Air Canada/Jazz flight 8081 from Vancouver to Victoria (rows one to five)
Nov. 19: United Airlines flight 5312 from San Francisco to Vancouver (rows not reported)

Notably, the BCCDC also added WestJet flight 3178 on Nov. 15 from Grande Prairie to Calgary to its list. That flight does not appear to involve any airports in British Columbia, though Grande Prairie is less than 100 kilometres from the B.C. border. CTV News Vancouver has reached out to the centre for an explanation.

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.

Travellers arriving from international destinations are required to self-isolate upon arrival, while those arriving on domestic flights are not. That said, B.C. health officials have urged Canadians to avoid non-essential domestic travel amid the province's recent tightening of COVID-19 restrictions.

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

B.C. health officials do not directly contact passengers who were on flights with a confirmed case of COVID-19 on board. Instead, notifications are published on the BCCDC website.