Returning Canadians reporting mixed messages at airports
Some travellers say they're getting scant information about COVID-19 upon their return
Travellers returning to Canada from abroad are reporting mixed messaging at the border when it comes to COVID-19.
Some said they received handouts and were asked to sign declarations saying they would self-isolate, but others said they were given no instructions or information.
Passengers at the Ottawa International Airport told CBC they received information from border officials as they returned to the country.
"I actually had to sign a little declaration when I come through customs saying I would self-isolate for two weeks," said Pat Klus, who was returning to Ottawa from Mexico on Monday.
Others who entered the country at Pearson International in Toronto described a much different experience.
"It was very superficial, extremely superficial," said Helen Azar, who flew to Toronto from Portugal before heading to Ottawa.
Azar said she would have been willing to take a COVID-19 test at the border had one been offered.
Brittnee Kenney, a 19-year-old university student returning to Toronto from St. Louis, Mo., had a similar experience.
"No one talked to me, no one was at the door. The only thing that changes is there is hand sanitizer," Kenney said.
She was met at the airport by her grandfather, but couldn't give him a hug. She said she will be spending the next 14 days in self-isolation now that she's home.
A group of friends who had to cut their vacation to the Dominican Republic short said they were warned by officials and at digital kiosks about the need to self-isolate when they arrived back to Canada.
Julia and Megan Saunders, Olivia Chouinard and Alexa Ignjatic said their parents reached out to tell them to return early.
"I have a COVID-19 disease slip and it tells you all the precautions you need to take," Chouinard said.
On Monday, the federal government announced that all international flights would soon be rerouted to airports in Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver and Montreal to allow for increased monitoring of passengers.
Echoing earlier advice from health and government officials, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urged Canadians abroad to come home as soon as possible, and warned they could be denied entry if they're showing symptoms of COVID-19.
with files from Sandra Abma
