Testing Better than Travel Ban 'Whack-a-Mole,' Infectious Disease Specialist Says

Infectious disease specialist Dr. Zain Chagla is critical of Canada’s efforts to curb the spread of the Omicron variant through a travel ban, and says that testing is a “less harmful and more effective mitigation strategy.” Chagla said that there is evidence testing all travellers before and after they arrive in Canada will identify “most” cases of COVID-19 entering the country. In a study done in Canada from SEP to OCT 2020, 1.5 per cent of international travellers tested positive, and two-thirds of those travellers were identified by testing them at the airport when they arrived. Another 27 per cent were picked up by testing a week later. Only six per cent tested positive two weeks later.

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