VANCOUVER -- The B.C. Centre for Disease Control added a dozen more flights to its list of COVID-19 exposures on Saturday, bringing the total added since Monday to more than 70.

All of the flights added to the list last week either took off from or landed at B.C. airports within a week of New Year's Day.

Health officials across Canada strongly discouraged non-essential travel during the holidays, but many elected officials have since come under fire for leaving the country over that period. 

Around the globe, as cases of COVID-19 have increased, new, more contagious variants of the coronavirus have been emerging, making it even harder to control the spread of the disease.

The latest flights added to the BCCDC list are as follows.

  • Dec. 30: Air Canada flight 116 from Vancouver to Toronto (rows not reported)
  • Dec. 31: Air Canada flight 107 from Toronto to Vancouver (rows three to seven)
  • Dec. 31: Air Canada/Jazz flight 8576 from Vancouver to Saskatoon (rows 22 to 28)
  • Jan. 3: Air Canada flight 45 from Delhi to Vancouver (rows two to eight)
  • Jan. 3: Air Canada flight 106 from Vancouver to Toronto (rows 49 to 55)
  • Jan. 3: Air Canada flight 202 from Vancouver to Calgary (rows one to seven)
  • Jan. 3: Air Canada flight 228 from Vancouver to Calgary (rows 19 to 25)
  • Jan. 4: Swoop Airlines flight 106 from Abbotsford to Hamilton (rows 18 to 24)
  • Jan. 4: WestJet flight 706 from Vancouver to Toronto (rows 13 to 19)
  • Jan. 5: AeroMexico flight 696 from Mexico City to Vancouver (rows not reported)
  • Jan. 5: AeroMexico flight 694 from Mexico City to Vancouver (rows five to 21)
  • Jan. 5: Air Canada flight 302 from Vancouver to Montreal (rows 39 to 45)

Travellers arriving in B.C. from international locales are required to self-isolate for 14 days upon landing. Domestic travellers are not required to self-isolate, but health officials have been advising against non-essential travel within Canada for months.

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. Those who were seated in the listed rows are considered to be at greater risk of contracting the coronavirus due to their proximity to a confirmed infection.

New rules requiring international travellers to present a negative test before being allowed to board flights to Canada took effect at 11:59 p.m., ET, on Wednesday. Travellers ages five and older must present a negative PCR test result taken within 72 hours of their flight's departure to their airline in order to board. 

No such rule has been introduced for domestic flights.

The full list of domestic and international flights that have had COVID-19 cases on board can be found on the BCCDC website.