New Border Regulations

[moisheh]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/garneau-negative-test-airline-1.5858379
The above regulation takes affect on Jan. 7. This will affect any snowbirds that had their car or rv shipped across the border as Canada is working on applying the test rule to land crossings. I also wonder if any US citizens will be allowed to cross Canada in order to get to Alaska. I expect we will see similar regulations from some US states. N.D already has a rule that requires anyone entering the state to be tested. This does not apply to travelers who are not staying overnight. Unfortunately the Canadian Government did not realize that this regulation is going to cause lots of problems. Stay tuned!

[JaxDad]

“.... 'll answer that question, there are six: Thailand, Papua New Guinea, Mongolia, Vietnam, Tanzania and Burundi....”

The fact that those countries aren’t exactly a Mecca for tourism, even before a pandemic, has nothing to do with it of course.

Very few people drown in the Sahara Desert either, do you think that’s because they’re better swimmers than we are?

[qtla9111]

wapiticountry wrote:

wintersun wrote:
With only 400,000 Americans in the ground from Covid-19 it is hard to understand the concern of the Canadians to having visitors from the USA. I would guess that the OP is not aware that the death toll is 1000 times higher in the USA than in many other countries where the people behave responsibly and wore masks and self isolated.

Other than North Korea, which by it's own admission has not had a single COVID case, what country has a reported death rate 1000 times lower than the US? I'll answer that question, there are six: Thailand, Papua New Guinea, Mongolia, Vietnam, Tanzania and Burundi. The wealthiest of those six countries, Thailand, has a Gross Domestic Product 1/8th that of the US. If you really want to hold those nations up as paradise found, you will probably find yourself in a very small minority.

GDP does not relate directly to the quality of life and happiness. I live in Mexico in the countryside. Many of my neighbors up in the hills live in cabins and cook on wood stoves. They wouldn't change it for anything. They're happy, carefree, and live to be in their 90s.

The other countries rely heavily on credit and steep borrowing which will never be paid back, both governments and citizens.

[JaxDad]

moisheh wrote:
Monoramblee:
How true. Just leaving the house to buy groceries can be stressful
We mostly just stay home.

As an essential worker it’s doubly stressful.

Just imagine what goes through your head flying to a foreign place meeting God knows who then loading a patient in the back and flying back home to the family.

Every tickle in your throat brings on the worst possible thoughts.

[Monaramblee]

Also try to put yourselves in the shoes of the 400,000 deceased and their families.

[cornerjoe]

Conspiracy beliefs? Yeah, Dime a dozen. Always have been , always will be. IMHO.
That's why whenever I keyboard something a little outlandish or a joke I always try to follow it with a smiley face. Just in case.

As for stress, mine is nonexistent , compared to the stress and outright horror of the people , who through no fault of their own, have lost every thing, or are about to, and don't have anywhere to turn for help. Try to put yourselves in their shoes. I tried, on more than one occasion and I can't . I don't have a fortune or anything near that, but I consider myself EXTREMELY fortunate.

My only stress is waiting for the Canada USA border to open and hopefully my return to Mexico. Ppfftt.

[moisheh]

Monoramblee:
How true. Just leaving the house to buy groceries can be stressful
We mostly just stay home.

[Monaramblee]

Here we have a global pandemic, a crashing economy, social isolation, and restrictive government policies: All of these can cause feelings of extreme anxiety, powerlessness, and stress, which in turn encourage conspiracy beliefs.

[wapiticountry]

wintersun wrote:
With only 400,000 Americans in the ground from Covid-19 it is hard to understand the concern of the Canadians to having visitors from the USA. I would guess that the OP is not aware that the death toll is 1000 times higher in the USA than in many other countries where the people behave responsibly and wore masks and self isolated.

Other than North Korea, which by it's own admission has not had a single COVID case, what country has a reported death rate 1000 times lower than the US? I'll answer that question, there are six: Thailand, Papua New Guinea, Mongolia, Vietnam, Tanzania and Burundi. The wealthiest of those six countries, Thailand, has a Gross Domestic Product 1/8th that of the US. If you really want to hold those nations up as paradise found, you will probably find yourself in a very small minority.

[JaxDad]

moisheh wrote:
I doubt there are very many people that will be flying to Canada with the new rules. It will be interesting to see how they will handle land borders?.

The info given to us in the aviation community said “ The Government of Canada will introduce a 72-hour pre-arrival testing requirement (molecular test) for travellers seeking entry in land mode, with limited exceptions such as commercial truckers.”.

The other interesting tidbit it contained was with regard to the self-quarantine for land travellers, compliance has always been an issue, until now .....

“ To ensure travellers’ awareness and compliance with quarantine requirements, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) is working with security companies to help complete compliance checks for travellers arriving in Canada. Employees of these companies were trained by PHAC and authorized as Screening Officers under the Quarantine Act. These Screening Officers will visit travellers’ quarantine locations to establish contact, confirm identity and confirm that travellers are at the place of quarantine they identified upon entry into Canada. These new officers will conduct visits in 35 cities across the country, starting in Montréal and Toronto.”

No more phone calls (which was hugely abused) a rel live human being (a private security guard) will make random visits to ensure you are there.

I think you will shortly see further restrictions on entry points by land too. There are legal rights of entry for all citizens but the government has the absolute right to determine where that point will be. My friend was turned away and told to fly in and either leave the motorhome he was driving in the US (6 hours from his destination) or have it shipped. They are getting very serious about people not immediately going into quarantine upon arrival. No more ‘mister nice-guy’.

[cornerjoe]

So , $2000.00 for 3 days quarantine eh? Hhhhmmmmm. That works out to 666.66 per day. 666 !!! If I remember correctly , there's something biblical about that number.

This is what happens when they close the border to rvers....... bored spitless.

I don't use my calculator often .... but when I do I make sure everyone knows about it. 🙂

[moisheh]

I doubt there are very many people that will be flying to Canada with the new rules. It will be interesting to see how they will handle land borders? Im Manitoba we have some citizens that live close to Minnesota? They are far from Canadian health care. For years Canada has paid for them to get care and meds in MN. But they still have to quarantine when they return. Trudeau has refused to grant an exemption? There are no facilities on the Canadian side to handle a Quarantine. Most are seniors and this has been difficult.

[JaxDad]

moisheh wrote:
Does not include the USA but flights from the USA will only be at certain airports. Vancouver, Calgary,TO and I think Montreal.

That is correct, buuuut, the new testing / quarantine provisions WILL apply to non-essential workers arriving by air from the US. They must reserve a room in a Government of Canada-approved hotel for three nights at their own cost, and take a COVID-19 molecular test on arrival at their own cost. If they fail the test here in Canada they must stay in that hotel (at their expense) until they test negative. This does NOT eliminate the 14 day quarantine, it is in addition to that requirement.

[moisheh]

Does not include the USA but flights from the USA will only be at certain airports. Vancouver, Calgary,TO and I think Montreal. I would imagine that departing flights will be limited to those airports. I often wonder who and how these rules are dreamed up. Very confusing and there will be unintended consequences. Neither Canada or the USA has figured out how to handle the 300,000 truck drivers that cross daily. These drivers should be vaccinated starting Monday! I drive part time in the summer. Most of the time we are in our own little bubble. But truck stops are not hygienic and many hundreds of traveller's enter those facilities. There is also 50,000 persons crossing daily to work in either country

In the USA many people are maskless. So in one week close to 2 million drivers cross as compared to a possible much smaller group of vacationers. The Governments are afraid of affecting trade as well as the food supply of both nations.

[magicbus]

silversand wrote:
....if anyone here from Canada is RVing and needs to get back by airline, you better do it quickly. The Canadian Feds just announced this morning that all flights in/out of "sun destinations" (this includes Mexico, the US the Caribbean, all of Latin America) are halted (read: cancelled) from now (today) till the last day of April....

I couldn’t find anything mentioning canceling flights to the US.

Dave

[silversand]

....if anyone here from Canada is RVing and needs to get back by airline, you better do it quickly. The Canadian Feds just announced this morning that all flights in/out of "sun destinations" (this includes Mexico, the US the Caribbean, all of Latin America) are halted (read: cancelled) from now (today) till the last day of April. The only flights leaving (and returning) now are "repatriation" flights.

Also, EVERYONE entering Canada: mandatory quarantine in a Federal Government-designated hotel for 3 days till their mandatory PCR (yes, PCR) results done at the 4 or 5 airport entry customs facilities are confirmed. The cost of these 3 days is $2000+ CAD and is to be borne solely by the returning traveler. After a neg. test, the traveler will undergo mandatory quarantine at home, under heavy surveillance. IF the PCR results come back "positive", the "person(s)" are to be delivered by the Feds to a special Federal Quarantine Facility, till they test negative.

More later....