Only 14 flights with COVID-19 on board passed through B.C. airports last week
The B.C. Centre for Disease Control has added four more flights to its list of COVID-19 exposures, bringing the total number of notifications for the week to just 14.
That's the lowest weekly total B.C. has seen since CTV News Vancouver began tracking earlier this year.
After adding 10 flights to the list between Sunday and Wednesday, the centre added two flights on Thursday and two more on Friday.
The latest additions to the list either took off from or landed at a B.C. airport between June 6 and June 8. Details of the flights added follow.
- June 6: American Airlines flight 1415 from Dallas to Vancouver (rows not reported)
- June 6: Swoop flight 164 from Abbotsford to Winnipeg (rows 18 to 24)
- June 7: American Airlines flight 1415 from Dallas to Vancouver (rows 28 to 34)
- June 8: WestJet flight 119 from Calgary to Vancouver (rows one to four)
Anyone who was on any of the listed flights 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 have shown that the risk of contracting COVID-19 on an airplane is low, though there have been some examples of it happening.
The number of flights with COVID-19 cases on board passing through B.C. airports has declined significantly alongside caseloads since the peak of the pandemic's third wave in April.
B.C. is scheduled to end restrictions on non-essential travel within the province when it moves to Step 2 of its reopening plan, a move widely anticipated to happen on Tuesday.
Health officials have been recommending against non-essential travel within Canada throughout the pandemic, but that recommendation, too, is scheduled to end. B.C. residents will no longer be discouraged from domestic travel for recreational purposes when the province enters Step 3 of its plan, a change that will happen on July 1 at the earliest.
Last week, the federal government announced that it would be changing its rules for international travel as early as July, removing the 14-day quarantine requirement for fully vaccinated Canadians returning from abroad.
International tourists - even fully vaccinated ones - would not be allowed to skip the quarantine, at least during the first phase over the federal government's gradual easing of border restrictions.
Tourism-reliant businesses in B.C. have criticized the move, saying business could be even worse this summer than it was in 2020 if Canadians are able to travel abroad but international visitors aren't allowed to come.
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.